Albany Farms ships out its first batch of ramen noodles

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (KEVN) - The million-dollar ramen noodle plant in Belle Fourche is now operational. Albany Farms is the only ramen noddle plant in South Dakota and is shipping out its first truckload of noodles.

The shipment is proof of the work that has gone into getting the plant up and running for the past two years. But that work did not come without challenges.

“We’ve had weather concerns, machinery concerns, employment concerns. Post COVID it’s not simple to start a company, certainly, and in Belle Fourche it’s had some challenges as well but here we are,” said Bill Saller, CEO for Albany Farms.

While only one truck was shipped out Wednesday, that has not deterred the company from looking to the future.

“The next step is to be on every retailer shelf U.S., Canada and that is my goal. I speak to almost every retailer out there, so we have some really exciting things, big things ahead,” said Mandy Brewer, CCO for Albany Farms

Albany Farms was welcomed into the Belle Fourche community with the promise of creating new job opportunities.

“The community has supported us, we’ve got tons of folks that have come to work for us, we’ve had a lot of people when were around town have said: ‘Whatever we can do.’ ‘Welcome to the community.’ ‘Thank you for what you’re doing’,” said Saller.

“There were just two of us in the plant here back in December and now we’re up to 75 and we’re all working together. Everybody’s wearing a bunch of different hats and here we are today getting our first truck out,” said Angie Besler, HR manager for Albany Farms.

Right now Albany Farms is shipping their noodles to Canada with hopes of a U.S. retailer soon.

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