Campbell’s Snacks employees began moving into their new office Thursday morning off South Boulevard, a space that pays homage to Lance crackers, one of Charlotte’s oldest and best-known brands.

The morning was overcast and rainy as the deliciously sweet scent of crackers and peanut butter wafted in the air from the manufacturing plant, adjacent to the newly renovated building that will house office employees.

Inside the office, named the Philip Lance Center, employees and company officials were celebrating the unveiling of the two-story, nearly 40,000-square-foot space.

The building is named for Philp L. Lance, who started the Lance Packing Co. in Charlotte in 1912. The brand is known for its iconic bright orange cracker and peanut butter sandwiches. In 2018, Campbell Soup Co., based in Camden, New Jersey, purchased the Charlotte snack maker Snyder’s-Lance for about $6.1 billion.

The newly repurposed building at 8600 Crump Road is now home to 50 corporate employees and 100 supply chain workers, Sam Bailor, senior vice president of human resources and facilities for Campbell’s supply chain, said Thursday during The Charlotte Observer’s exclusive tour of the office.

The total investment in the Charlotte facility is $10 million, he said, which includes the office building and a multi-year plan of upgrades in the manufacturing plant common areas like break rooms, cafeteria and restrooms.

Charlotte is home to the largest Campbell’s Snacks manufacturing centers with over 1,500 employees throughout the region, including the snacks plants, mixing center, warehouses and distribution facilities.

“It’s one of the few places in our network where we’re going to have supply chain, customer service, transportation, finance, IT, everybody working together side-by-side with our manufacturing folks,” said Chad Scherger, senior vice president of customer logistics and planning for Campbell’s.

The new office is “a big deal,” Scherger said, because it will lead to better camaraderie, improved decision-making and is a continuation of investment in Charlotte.

Last year, Campbell Soup Co. said it would permanently close its leased 13515 Ballantyne Corporate Place office as the company consolidated corporate offices to its New Jersey headquarters.

The new Charlotte office is part of Campbell’s $50 million plan to upgrade and modernize workspace companywide to drive creativity, collaboration and career development.

Campbell also recently moved its warehousing operations to a new 173,000-square-foot facility at 12012 Carolina Logistics Drive in Pineville, about 10 minutes away from the new Charlotte office and manufacturing plant site.

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Inside the Philip Lance Center

Work began over a year ago converting the two-story building into new office space. The open-concept design meant tearing down walls and letting more natural light in, Campbell’s Snacks site leader Josh Logan said during Thursday’s tour.

The first-floor entrance of the Philip Lance Center is an open foyer and gathering area with a large staircase and snack bar. Floor to ceiling frosted glass separates two enclosed rooms. To the left is the Salem Van Every Room for training and new hire orientation. To the right is the Philip Lance Van Every Room for executive meetings.

Dotting the white walls with gray trim and accents throughout the building are black-and-white photos showcasing the history of Lance in Charlotte. For example, one photo shows then President Phil Van Every at the 1300 South Blvd. plant overseeing the packing of products to send to troops during the Korean War.

The second floor walls also are decorated with colorful images of the snacks and logos in the common area. “There is a lot of history represented here,” Logan said.

Both rooms are wireless and digitally integrated, including cameras that can follow a speaker around the room.

The open concept means there are only four enclosed offices. There are five small meeting rooms with frosted glass doors for private conversations.

The high-speed automated coffee machines with frappuccinos, cappuccinos and hot chocolates has been a big hit so far, Logan said.

Lance history in Charlotte

Philip L. Lance started selling roasted peanuts on the streets of Charlotte in 1912 and the first Lance office opened at 204 S. College St. in uptown Charlotte. The company became known for its signature peanut butter-filled orange cracker sandwiches.

In 1922, Lance and his business partner and son-in-law Salem A. Van Every moved the plant to West Ninth Street, north of uptown.

Four years later, Lance and Van Every moved the company to 1300 South Blvd. and expanded the facility four times. The plant moved 7 miles south in July to the current 108-acre site, now owned by Campbell’s.

There are three manufacturing plants at the Charlotte site. The Bakery and Salty plants produce 215 million pounds of sandwich crackers, cookies and chips each year, according to Campbell’s.

The third plant, formerly Emerald Nuts, closed after Campbell sold the business to Minneapolis-based Flagstone Food last May.

Snacks made in Charlotte

Campbell’s Snacks in Charlotte makes all 17 varieties of Lance sandwich crackers, including the most popular ToastChee.

Other snacks are: Cape Cod potato chips and regional brands OkeDoke popcorn and Tom’s Snacks.

Back to its origins

The updated and modernized Philip Lance Center office building is a return to Lance’s roots.

It had once been Lance’s corporate offices, Logan said, but had most recently been used as overflow space for the plant workers.

“So it’s sort of repurposing back to the original intent of what it was,” he said. “We’re extremely excited to have this space.”