HOPE, Arkansas - Dansons USA will soon begin operating the nation's largest barbecue wood pellet mill and distribution center here in the spring.
"Dansons is setting the barbecue world on fire with its high-quality wood pellets and top-flight pellet grills," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
"Dansons and Hope are a perfect match. Dansons needs wood. Arkansas has wood. Dansons needs a first-rate workforce. Arkansans are the hardest working and smartest employees anywhere. Dansons and Arkansas will set the standard for barbecue wood pellets, and soon grill masters will be serving barbecue with the distinctive taste of Arkansas," he said.
The mill will initially employ about 50 people, with a workforce of around 100 planned for later.
According to a press release, the facility, approximately 335,000 square feet and sitting on 143 acres, will start with three pelleters and a 100,000-ton capacity, with the infrastructure in place to triple that.
The site, regarded by the company as the crown jewel of its pellet creation and distribution operation, is a former Georgia-Pacific facility and has strong infrastructure for wood processing.
In addition, the town of Hope also offers ideal operational support, with extensive fiber processing abilities, with several sawmills, paper mills and particle board plants already in the area. The pellets will be manufactured for the Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills brands.
Dansons purchased the facility in August 2020 and began site construction shortly thereafter, as told to the Texarkana Gazette.As to the pellets they will be producing, Jeff Thiessen, president of Dansons USA, says they are the "best fuel for grillers."
"In its simplest form, barbecue wood pellets are the fuel source of pellet grills and smokers," he said. "They are easy to use and provide an immense flavor without needing to constantly check in on external factors that otherwise make grilling a complicated art. Pit Boss Grills and Louisiana Grills wood pellets are a renewable, sustainable fuel made from 100 percent all-natural hardwood that is dried and ground into sawdust. The dust is then pressurized at extreme heat to create the compact pellets that are coated and held together with the wood's natural lignin."