Fruit breeding and licensing company IFG has unveiled plans for the company's new $12 million state-of-the-art research facility and breeding campus in California.

The new facility, named Fruitworks | The IFG Discovery Center, will be the company’s new research and development headquarters and is located in McFarland.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place last Tuesday, among the presence of Sally Gonzalez, Mayor of McFarland, IFG founders Jack Pandol, Glen and Craig Stoller and Dr. David Cain

IFG CEO Andy Higgins also offered details about the buildings and the company’s plans for the campus, announced the name of the facility and surrounding grounds and discussed the company’s future endeavors.

“Fruitworks | The IFG Discovery Center will include 27,000 square feet of new lab, greenhouses and business support buildings on 160 acres of land and will be the future site of IFG where we will innovate, create, breed and grow many of the new varieties consumers and licensees have come to expect, as well as employ people in the Kern County and surrounding area,” said Higgins.

“This facility and site is a representation of all the hard work our team has put in over the last 20 years, and is also a symbol of what is to come for IFG as we continue to be the future of fruit breeding.

"I want to thank everyone who could join us today for coming and learning more about how we will continue to recruit talent and further our pioneering breeding program, all here in McFarland.”

Dr. Chris Owens, IFG’s lead plant breeder, spoke about IFG’s legacy of the last 20 years and how the new facilities will provide the infrastructure for continuing to transform the fruit industry.