New York-based Chobani, a food and beverage company, will purchase a 1.5-million-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse campus in Allentown from Keurig Dr Pepper and invest approximately $1.2 billion over the next five years. The purchase includes equipment and related infrastructure.
“There’s already an incredibly talented team here that knows how to make great food,” Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani founder and CEO, said. “The foundation is strong. And we have an opportunity to build something extraordinary on top of it. Then you look outside and see what surrounds it. Pennsylvania has generations of dairy families producing some of the best milk in America.”
Over the past three years, Chobani has grown approximately 20 percent annually, and the purchase is part of a more than $4 billion investment in the company’s U.S. manufacturing network to meet customer demand.
The company plans up to 10 production lines and will use the facility to scale new products and develop new formats and food and beverage platforms.
Keurig Dr Pepper will retain some employees. Chobani will offer others positions. The project is expected to create more than 900 jobs.
Chobani manufactures yogurt, oat milk and creamers in Philadelphia as well as locations in New York, Idaho, Michigan and Australia.