Featured Photo: Mana Nutrition’s first production warehouse in Pooler as of mid-February 2023. Photo courtesy of Mana Nutrition.
By Eric Curl
April 6, 2025 — After facing federal (DOGE) cuts, a nonprofit appears to be moving forward with expansion plan in Pooler as part of its mission to alleviate childhood malnourishment throughout the world.
The Pooler City Council will consider a conditional use request Monday for a proposed light manufacturing facility at 5158 Old Louisville Road. The applicant, Mana Nutrition, plans to develop a facility dedicated to the production of vitamins, which will be used in the company’s ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF)
.
The RUTF peanut paste, designed to treat severe acute malnutrition, is distributed globally through a partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in August 2025, with completion by July 2026 and occupancy in September.
Mana is in the process of completing the construction of a manufacturing facility in Pooler at 5212 Old Louisville Road, where the company is expected to double the nonprofit’s production capabilities of their RUTF peanut paste, as previously reported.
RELATED: Georgia Ports welcomes MANA Nutrition’s new food processing facility
RELATED: Pooler City Council Meeting April 7
The petition for the new facility comes after the Trump administration announced in late February a reduction of over 90% in USAID foreign aid contracts.
As a result, Mana received termination notices for several supply contracts from USAID, amounting to approximately $12 million and representing about 35% of the company’s production at their Fitzgerald, Ga. plant, as reported by Macon’s 13WMAZ. The USAID contracts were reinstated a week later thanks to bipartisan support from all over the country, according to the company’s Facebook page on March 3.
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