LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Someone has to make the cheeseburger sliders you find in the grocery store.
WDRB's Keith Kaiser went inside White Castle's Louisville Retail Plant on this Manufacturing Monday.
White Castle started as a hamburger chain in 1921; the first fast-food restaurant in the country.
Billy Ingram founded White Castle, and it’s still owned and run by his family members.
In 1987, White Castle launched its retail division, bringing those famous Sliders to customers in retail stores across the country.
It's “The slider provider that helps feed America’s cravings.”
White Castle's Louisville Retail Plant opened in the early 1990's.
There are two other retail manufacturing plants: one in Vandalia, Ohio, right outside of Dayton, and one in Covington, Kentucky.
All the plants make products that will be sold in retail stores across the U.S, including Original Sliders, Cheese Sliders, and Jalapeno Cheese Sliders.
White Castle has made more than 6 billion frozen Sliders since launching its retail division in 1987.
Each day, the Louisville plant makes more than 750, 000 Sliders.
The Sliders made at the plant are nearly identical to the Sliders you can purchase in White Castle restaurants with 100% beef patties, steam-grilled on a bed of onions on a perfect bun.
The small holes speed up the cooking and allow aroma of onions to permeate the burger.
More than 200 team members rotate between three shifts including manufacturing, cleaning and sanitation.
The cheese Sliders need special attention.
The process of putting cheese on the Sliders is automated, but team members provide quality control, making sure the Slider has a bun, a beef patty with onions and a slice of cheese centered on the patty.
Once fully assembled, the Sliders are wrapped in plastic wrappers automatically, but team members provide quality control, making sure the Sliders are aligned as they move through the equipment.
The Sliders are frozen in pairs and packaged into different size boxes: 6 count and 16 count, then loaded on to pallets and shipped across the U.S.
White Castle believes in supporting our communities. Around the country, they donate over $1.5 million each year through the “Castle Shares” philanthropic giving program.
Through the “Manufacturing Charity of Choice” program, local team members chose the organization Twisted Pink.
Twisted Pink raises money for research for metastatic breast cancer to help advance science and provide new treatment options.
The plant is donating $2,000.
The 102-year-old family-owned business also cares about its team members.
White Castle has been certified a “Great Place to Work” for the third year in a row.
This certification is based on the responses of the company’s more than 10,000 employees.
80% of White Castle's manufacturing plant employees, restaurant workers and home office staff say that White Castle is a great place to work.
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