An everyday staple used by the billions to eat food is made right here in the United States.
The well oiled machines at Georgia Chopsticks, LLC, in Americus are cranking out utensils for the Pacific Rim.
“We are doing like four million chopsticks a day and then probably by the end of March we'll be increasing to like 12 million chopsticks a day,” said President of Georgia Chopsticks, LLC, Jae Lee.
President Jae Lee's business is coming up on its first anniversary this April. While China is his main consumer, others are catching on.
“We have a buyer from New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, all over the world,” said Lee.
This worldwide supplier of disposable wooden chopsticks picked Americus in part because of the number of lumber companies in South Georgia and the plentiful poplar and sweet gum trees.
“There's such a demand for products that grow like weeds for us so the natural resource we have kicked in beautifully,” said the Executive Director of the Americus Sumter Payroll Development Authority, David Garriga.
Garriga said he’s proud of the small town for snagging such an exploding business.
“We had a building that fit their needs, we had a good incentive package for them and we worked hard to convince them this is the place to be,” said Garriga.
Lee also gives back by employing locals and buying goods.
“We try to buy you know most of our paper goods and the boxes from local companies even though they are a little bit expensive. We try to get local contracts and everything. We try to use local,” said Lee.
Lee said the demand for his chopsticks outweighs what he can produce right now and he wants to make sure he doesn't skimp on the quality.
“I want to do quality control because I don't want to send it out [and have people say] oh made in the U.S.A. not so good. I want it to be better than Chinese products,” said Lee
Garriga said Georgia Chopsticks, LLC, has helped put Americus on the map and looks forward to other businesses catching on.
“It's made in the United States in Sumter County, Georgia so that's a source of pride for us very much so,” said Garriga.
Georgia Chopsticks, LLC, plans to buy more plants in the United States. Lee said the plant has stayed quiet the past month partially because of the Chinese New Year but they plan on cranking out chopsticks in February.
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