Jul 24, 2006 10:04 AM, from staff and wire reports

Golden State Foods executives, along with other Southern California business and community leaders, recently celebrated the grand opening of a new 270,000-square-foot GSF distribution center in City of Industry CA, the first one built in the McDonald's restaurant supply chain system in 10 years.

In 1970, GSF originally opened a distribution center that would evolve into the world's largest McDonald's distribution facility at another site in the City of Industry. GSF's new, larger distribution center is on Baker Parkway in the City of Industry's Grand Crossing development, a 400-acre industrial center. The distribution center houses more than 300 employees and serves about 900 restaurants. Operating 362 days a year, the center will ship 40 million cases of products each year, and its drivers will travel 3.4 million miles to make more than 90,000 annual deliveries.

Irvine CA-based GSF has about 2,400 employees worldwide, and its core businesses include processing and distribution of meat, produce, and liquid products.