COLUMBUS – The Chenango County company which has taken supermarkets by storm with its Chobani Greek-style yogurt is moving forward with plans to expand its original South Edmeston site.

According to Agro Farma Vice President of Operations Keven Bucklin, the project involves construction of an approximately 100,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse and renovations to the existing plant.

“We’re currently leasing a building in Albany (for refrigerated storage),” Bucklin said. The addition of the warehouse on site will not only eliminate that need, he explained, but will also allow the company to increase production and decrease traffic congestion around the plant.

The company has already acquired a 14-acre parcel across the road from their existing facility, and is waiting to close on a second, roughly half acre parcel where Rick’s Tavern is currently located. Currently, they are conducting archeological and geological surveys, as well as the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) required by New York State.

“The plan is to start actually digging in July,” Bucklin reported. The majority of the building should be completed and online by the end of the year, he added, with all work finished by the end of the first quarter of 2011.

Renovations have already begun in the existing facility, including the construction of drive-thru receiving bays which will eliminate the need for milk haulers to back across County Road 25 thus helping reduce congestion on the narrow roadway. According to Bucklin, the first of these bays has already been completed and a second should be on-line by mid-July. A third bay will also be added.

Bucklin said traffic congestion will be relieved even further by the warehouse itself.

“90 percent of our volume will be loaded across the street,” he said. The yogurt itself will be transported to the refrigerated warehouse via an enclosed, elevated conveyor system which will stretch across County Road 25 to bridge the two buildings. The structure will be approximately 35 feet above the road surface, he explained, providing more than adequate clearance for vehicles traveling the county roadway.

“We’re working with all of the regulatory agencies,” he said.

The new warehouse structure will also enable Agro Farma to convert two refrigerated storage areas in the existing facility into packaging lines. According to Bucklin, this will make it possible to increase production capacity to “upwards of 1 million cases per week.” Currently, he said, the plant is currently churning out 500,000 cases per week - close to 100 percent of its current capacity.