With a dismal economy and more hungry mouths to feed, The Greater Boston Food Bank is looking forward to the opening of a new 117,000-square-foot facility, slated for opening in February.

“Unfortunately, we have to have a bigger facility,” GBFB COO Carol Tienken told Modern. “That's the bad news. The good news is we have the support to do it.”

The food bank is where soup kitchens and shelters get food. The facility is responsible for acquiring, storing, picking, packing and shipping frozen meats, fresh produce, perishables and other goods to smaller facilities—about 550,000 pounds of food each week.

“Our throughput's probably twice that,” Tienken said. “With the economic situation, we're doing inventory turns about once every three weeks.”

Tienken said the current facility is “bursting at the seams,” with 28 million pounds of food stored in a 60,000-square-foot building.

“We run this like a business,” Tienken said. “We learn from logistics modules and the supply chain to be as efficient as possible to use dollars donated to us as best as we can.”

In addition to expanding, GBFB will work on efficiency by introducing a warehouse management system, reducing bulk storage, improving inventory tracking and designing a better pick path.