SALT LAKE CITY — Pepperidge Farm, Inc., a division of Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Soup Co., said it plans to invest up to $45 million in capital improvements at its facility in Richmond, Utah, including the expansion of a Goldfish crackers line and the addition of 54 new jobs.

Pepperidge Farm chose the Richmond site for its expansion over three other Goldfish cracker-producing facilities — in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio — as well as a Tennessee location for a new-from-the-ground-up “greenfield” build.

“Our popular Goldfish products enjoy one of the strongest growth rates in our company, and we expect that success to continue,” said Pat Callaghan, president of Pepperidge Farm. “And after almost 40 years of productive operation at our Richmond plant, we are very pleased to continue and expand this outstanding partnership with Cache county.”

The existing Richmond facility has been in continuous production since 1974, and Pepperidge said expansion will begin in 2012, with production scheduled to begin in 2014. The company expects to invest up to $45 million in capital improvements over the course of the project.

The board of directors for the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development authorized a 10-year, post-performance, single-payer refundable tax credit of $475,032 over the life of the project. Over those 10 years, Campbell Soup Co. will generate nearly $2.8 million in new state revenue. The 54 jobs created will pay at least 100% of the county average wage (as required to be considered for an incentive in a rural community), and will pay new state wages in excess of $18.9 million.