Bauducco, the Brazilian baked goods heavyweight best known for supermarket panettone and snack wafers, is setting up a large production and distribution campus in Zephyrhills that local officials say will bring hundreds of jobs to Pasco County. The multi‑phase buildout ranks among the biggest industrial moves in eastern Pasco in years and is already reshaping hiring plans in nearby communities.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Bauducco is planning a roughly 72‑acre facility at the Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park and expects to create about 600 jobs over three construction phases. That local reporting casts the deal as a major new hub for both manufacturing and logistics in the region.
Local economic paperwork tells the same big story with slightly different numbers. The Pasco Economic Development Council lists the land sale at about 85 acres with a projected capital investment of $233 million, while a county economic report describes a roughly 403,000‑square‑foot plant on about 72.52 acres. Together, the Pasco EDC listing and Pasco County’s economic report lay out the differing site and square‑footage figures.
What Bauducco Will Build
Company statements and county materials say the Zephyrhills campus will house production lines for panettones, wafers, cookies and other packaged baked goods, along with distribution capacity aimed at U.S. markets. In a company release carried by PR Newswire, local leaders praised the groundbreaking and pointed to the project’s expected ripple effects across the regional economy.
The project’s development advisor, Dennis Group, notes that Bauducco chose Zephyrhills after a national search. The firm also reports that preliminary incentive negotiations produced an initial package of about $2.6 million, with a longer‑term incentives framework of roughly $20 million tied to the buildout.
Jobs And Hiring
Bauducco has projected that a full buildout of the campus could support about 600 full‑time jobs, with roughly 120 positions expected to come online in the first phase. Industry outlets that picked up the company’s announcement echoed those figures and the phased rollout.
The interest is already clear on the ground. Tampa Bay 28 reported that hundreds of job seekers turned out for a Bauducco hiring fair in April. Local workforce listings show openings ranging from machine operators and maintenance technicians to quality control and logistics roles, reflecting the mix of production and distribution work planned for the site. Trade coverage, including a summary in FoodProcessing, has also highlighted the phase‑one staffing target and the company’s plans to use advanced production technology at the plant.
Why Zephyrhills?
Officials say Bauducco landed on Zephyrhills after looking at more than 160 potential sites, drawn by the city’s spot between Tampa and Orlando, its road and rail access, and Pasco County’s ready‑sites program. Local planning documents and industrial corridor materials have long pointed to land near the airport and a CSX rail connection as selling points for large manufacturers.
The broader industrial vision is detailed in the City of Zephyrhills industrial corridor materials, while the Dennis Group site search summary underscores those transportation and infrastructure advantages for Bauducco’s project specifically.
Construction and equipment installation are underway, and county partners say hiring should ramp up as production lines come online. Workforce agencies are steering applicants toward local career centers and training tied to the plant’s needs, and WorkforceCONNECT Pasco is posting updates on job openings, training programs and other support for residents hoping to land one of the new roles.
