Fuling finds place at the US dinner table

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack (left) talks to an employee at Fuling Plastic USA, a subsidiary of Fuling Global, one of the largest plastic cutlery manufacturers in China, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, as Fuling Chairwoman Jiang Guilan and CEO Hu Xinfu (center) look on. CAI CHUNYING / CHINA DAILY

It isn't a party without utensils to cut the cake, but at Fuling Plastic USA, this takes on an entirely different meaning.

The plastics ware company used its own products to celebrate the second anniversary of Fuling's US facility on Thursday at its manufacturing plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, joined by local officials and Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack.

Fuling Global, one of the largest plastic utensil manufacturers in China and major supplier to US fast-food chains such as Subway, Burger King and Wendy's, constructed a plant in 2014 closer to its US customer base, where 93 percent of its global sales take place.

Though it may seem counterintuitive for a manufacturing company to move from China to the US, Fuling saw an economic advantage in the expansion.

"By starting production in the US, we become closer to our customers, and can provide them with better service," said Hu XinFu, CEO of Fuling.

The Allentown facility produces only plastic straws, though it will eventually make plastic food containers.

According to Hu, producing lightweight products in the US saves the company money on shipping to US fast-food chains, the savings from which can be allocated to the increased labor costs at the US facility.

Jiang Guilan, president of Fuling, noted that credibility and product quality have always been instrumental in growing the business. Jiang has been a central member of the company, traveling six times last year from China to the US to oversee the US facility operations.

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) met Fuling’s expansion with enthusiasm, according to LVEDC President and CEO Don Cunningham, who joined the celebration.

"We developed a personal friendship, and now I look at it like they made a choice to be here, and we’re in it together," said Cunningham.

State leadership also views the relationship with China as one of great importance. Fuling is the first Chinese-owned company to develop a greenfield project in Pennsylvania, though officials hope this is the first of many.

Stack said, "In any relationship, the key is good communication and being attentive. So we’re going to continue to help Fuling to build and expand here in Pennsylvania."

The US facility began production in 2015, creating 43 jobs, filled by locally hired talent, and will soon add more to make the facility a 24/7 operation.

So far, the company said its US facility has produced enough straws to circle the globe twice over, with each of its 12 machines producing 500 straws per minute.

Thelma, one of the plant’s local employees, has been working with the company since October. Before joining Fuling, she worked part time at a company packing fruit. At Fuling, Thelma says that now she can make enough money to support her family and enjoys the work environment.

The Allentown facility’s plant manager, Kevin Monahan, sees Fuling as having great potential in the US. "My goal is to make Fuling very successful in the US. And this could be one of maybe several facilities," he said. "I would like to be involved in building that project. I’d like to see what we can build this into."

Fuling Global’s IPO, which took place in November 2015, raised just more than $20 million for the company. According to Gilbert Lee, Fuling’s chief financial officer, the company has used a third of the money to increase the capacity of the Allentown facility and the rest to break ground on construction of a manufacturing plant in Wenling, China.

Fuling Global’s sales revenue in 2015 reached $91.3 million, an increase of 9.8 percent year over year.

Allan Fong in Washington contributed to this story.