Scaling Fresh Food Production with Industrial-Grade Fire Protection Safeguarding Weigel’s First Purpose-Built Commissary for High-Volume Food Manufacturing

Weigel’s launched Project W to centralize and scale fresh food production through its first-ever dedicated commissary facility in Loudon, Tennessee. The objective was to create a modern food manufacturing hub capable of producing fresh meals, baked goods and prepared items for distribution across its growing convenience store network.

The 110,000-square-foot facility integrates food processing lines, temperature-controlled cold rooms, freezer environments, dry storage and office space, all designed to improve consistency, quality and operational efficiency while removing food prep burdens from in-store teams.

To support these diverse production environments, Weigel’s required a highly engineered fire protection solution capable of performing across cold storage, food processing and high-hazard manufacturing areas.

Value Delivered

North American Fire Protection delivered a fully integrated fire sprinkler system engineered for the complex operational demands of a modern food commissary.

Our solution provided:

• Reliable protection across freezer, cooler, food processing and dry warehouse environments
• Rapid-response systems designed for high-hazard manufacturing and pallet storage areas
• Corrosion-resistant and sanitary sprinkler solutions for food production spaces
• Redundant fire pump infrastructure ensuring uninterrupted life safety performance

By tailoring each system to the specific temperature and hazard conditions of the commissary, NAFPCO helped Weigel’s achieve a safe, code-compliant and production-ready facility built for long-term growth.

Scope of Services

North American Fire Protection provided complete fire sprinkler design and installation, including:

• Preaction fire protection for freezer and cooler environments down to –20°F
• Dry pipe systems protecting cold dock and refrigerated finished-goods areas
• Wet pipe sprinkler systems for food processing, interstitial spaces, offices and mechanical rooms
• ESFR sprinkler protection for dry storage and warehouse operations
• High-capacity electric fire pump system delivering reliable water supply and pressure
• Nitrogen-based corrosion control and linear heat detection for enhanced system performance

All systems were designed to meet NFPA 13 and NFPA 20 standards and customized for food production and cold storage operations, as detailed in NAFPCO’s project proposal.

Background on Building Owner

Weigel’s is a family-owned convenience store chain serving communities across East Tennessee with a strong focus on fresh food, customer experience and operational excellence. The Loudon commissary represents the company’s largest manufacturing investment to date and a major milestone in its foodservice strategy.

Through its Weigel’s Kitchen program, the commissary produces fresh sandwiches, pizzas, salads, parfaits and proprietary food offerings distributed across Weigel’s store network. By centralizing production, Weigel’s has improved food consistency, increased efficiency and freed store employees to focus more on customer service.