The Houston region offers the food processing and distribution industry a cornucopia of resources. Among the amenities are a top-ranked port, ample railroad and truck lines and headquarters of industry leaders.

Houston’s central location, increasing and diverse population, proximity to sources of food, and role as a major port offer great advantages to food manufacturers and distributors. As evinced by the following key points, Houston has a number of desirable assets.

• The Houston metropolitan area has more than 320 companies engaged in food processing, employing more than 13,000 people and with shipments totaling more than $3 billion.
• More than 700,000 rail cars arrive in or depart from Houston each year. Nearly 1,000 trucking companies travel Houston's 575 miles of freeways and expressways every day.
• Two major railroads and 150 trucking lines connect the Port of Houston to the balance of the continental United States, Canada and Mexico.
• Food companies – including Kraft, American Rice, Anheiser-Busch, Riviana, Borden and Maxwell House – have chosen Houston for a plant location and/or headquarters.
• The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in volume of foreign tonnage, second in total tonnage and 10th largest in the world – adding more value to regional food facilities.
• According to the New York Board of Trade, the Port of Houston is the fourth largest green coffee port in the United States.

Over the years, industry giants such as The Minute Maid Company, Camelot Desserts and Imperial Sugar as well as smaller food-related companies like Ole Mexican Foods and Sunny Sky Products North America Limited have seen the importance of having a presence in the Houston area. Other food-related businesses such as Goya, Frito-Lay, Chung's Gourmet Foods and Coastal Foods have found Houston fertile ground for growth.

CenterPoint Energy’s goal is to grow the food business long-term in the Houston area. We will achieve this by:

• Working with distributors to help them locate and build new facilities
• Recruiting new food companies to the region
• Delivering leads of industry prospects to the proper economic development interests in the region
• Maintaining relations with state agriculture and regional economic development organizations