A company that makes single-use compostable beverage pods is fully locating its operations in Windsor.
NEXE Innovations, which began in British Columbia, has sold its original facility in Surrey, B.C., for $5.7 million, a site primarily used for research and development.
As a result, the company will now be fully located at its vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Windsor, which will also focus on research and development efforts.
Ash Guglani, President of NEXE Innovations, says B.C. was a great place to begin.
"Where we're at now is that we need production and we need to scale. Windsor is a great place to be given the success of automation as well as the skilled labour that's available in Windsor,' he says.
NEXE hopes to begin production this fall and, in the coming months, will begin announcing the customers it will be producing the compostable beverage pods for.
Guglani says all they can do now is just focus on building the business in Windsor.
"We're getting a lot of attention now. We should start producing for a few customers shortly, and I think as those customers ramp up, you'll see us hire more people and probably do more than one shift a day," he says.
The Windsor facility has the capacity to produce 500 million pods every year.
NEXE currently employs around 15 people in Windsor.
Guglani says Windsor is a really hard-working community, and it just made sense to be here.
"We're right by the U.S. border, and I think a lot of our demand is going to come from the U.S. We've always been excited about Windsor, but now that we're about to go into production here, I think it's a community that's now officially our headquarters. We've got a lot of space to grow there,' he says.
The company’s pods are compatible with machines that use Keurig and Nespresso pods.
NEXE purchased the 54,000-square-foot facility in January 2022, which is located at 6845 Hawthorne Dr., just off Lauzon Parkway in Windsor.