Glacial Freeze Dry Expands Production Capabilities for Growing Freeze-Dried Market
Contract manufacturer’s 7x capacity increase and redesigned flow give pet brands more support to move from concept to commercial runs.
WALES, Wis. —
Glacial Freeze Dry, a family-owned contract manufacturer and co-packer specializing in premium freeze-dried products, recently completed a major redesign and retooling of its Wales, Wis., facility to support growing demand for its services, including from pet brands.
The improvements added new freeze-drying units to increase Glacial Freeze Dry’s freeze-drying capacity by 7x, while strengthening the facility’s end-to-end production flow, food-safety-focused design, cold storage capacity, and processing efficiencies.
“As the freeze-dried pet category continues to grow, we’re growing right along with it to support brand partners,” said Fred Klaas, VP of strategy for Glacial Freeze Dry. “Brands need a partner with the know-how, flexibility and tenacity to help them move from idea to repeatable production, particularly when growth is difficult to project. Our facility improvements give us a stronger foundation to support customers as they scale existing products and launch new ones.”
In addition to the new freeze dry units, the facility tripled its freezer space, expanded its processing room, and upgraded its utility infrastructure. The redesigned flow better supports a variety of production needs, from smaller development runs to larger commercial batches.
Glacial Freeze Dry has also added specialized roles to provide deeper operational focus around food safety, production consistency and customer support.
“Along with the facility investment, we’re continuing to build out our team for this next stage,” Klaas said. “We’re adding the headcount and expertise needed to help brands grow with confidence.”
For pet brands, the facility’s improvements also create new opportunities for recipe development and production optimization. Glacial Freeze Dry now operates Parker Freeze Dry units across a range of capacities, allowing the team to test and refine products in different scenarios before translating those learnings into larger commercial batches.
“Pet brands come to us with a vision for their product, and they often depend on us to help them achieve that,” said Sean Jones, director of sales for Glacial. “Working so closely with Parker gives brands a practical advantage as we develop recipes and scale. We test products, carry those learnings into larger batches, and provide real-world production feedback that helps Parker’s technology keep improving.”
That recipe-development support is especially important in the pet market, where brands are balancing clean-label expectations, nutritional quality, palatability, product appearance, shelf stability, and repeatable production outcomes.
“The true value we provide pet brands is being a partner that understands freeze-dry production from concept to retail-ready, and knowing what it takes to help you get there,” Jones said.
Attendees at SUPERZOO can meet with the Glacial Freeze Dry team at Booth #2709 to discuss contract manufacturing, private or white label options, recipe development and upcoming capacity.
For more information and to inquire about services, visit glacialfreezedry.com.
About Glacial Freeze Dry
Glacial Freeze Dry is a family-owned, service-driven contract manufacturer helping brands turn fresh ideas into premium freeze-dried products — fast, flexible and on their terms. Based in Wales, Wis., Glacial Freeze Dry delivers clean-label, nutrient-dense, shelf-stable products for brands ready to grow.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Aron Sweeney, VP Marketing
asweeney@glacialfd.com | 605-650-0749