Made In Arizona: Valley factory makes Metamucil for shipping around the world

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Dietary fiber is essential for a healthy diet, and if people are not getting enough of it, there are supplements to get things...moving.

One of the products that can help is Proctor and Gamble's Metamucil. The Ohio-based company fills the bright orange bottles and package them in Phoenix.

"One of the things that we're pretty proud of is that we're a single-source site," said Robert Krause with P&G. "This is the one place Metamucil is manufactured and packaged, and we ship it across the world."

Krause started working at the location more than 30 years ago, when he was right out of high school, and continued through college. With no time to cook, fast food became routine, so he turned to fiber therapy for help.

"Took that, multivitamins. Kept me alive through the school years and working here," said Krause.

The fiber in Metamucil is called psyllium, and it comes from India. Back in 1986, the company opened the Phoenix plant, thinking psyllium would grow in the Sonoran Desert. It didn't exactly pan out, but they decided to stay in Phoenix anyway. It was a risky move that proved to be the right one.

"We get new flavors, we get new products," said Janette Revuelta, the Phoenix manager for P&G. "We're extremely proud, because actually our business is very good and we're hiring around the community."