Chobani is spending $1.2 billion to buy and expand a manufacturing plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The project will create more than 900 jobs and will be a key new growth engine for the company.
The facility, which opened in 2021, will be bought from Keurig Dr Pepper for $125m. Chobani said the facility in Twin Falls, Idaho, will be used to develop new products such as high-protein shakes and to make milk with more protein and less sugar than traditional milk.
The investment is part of a more than $4 billion expansion plan across Chobani’s U.S. manufacturing network. The company said it had delivered annual growth of around 20% in the last three years, confirming its conviction to keep investing heavily in its production capacity and its future development.
Chobani is one of the companies that has benefited from this shift in consumer tastes as consumers increasingly demand convenient foods that offer better nutrition, especially high-protein products.
The New York-based food company has ramped up investments across the US in recent times. Chobani said it intends to invest $500 million in 2025 to expand its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. The company also said it planned to spend $1.2 billion to build a food processing plant in Rome, N.Y.
“All of our businesses are growing and growing fast,” said John Frost, Chobani’s chief customer officer, last November. “We’re seeing changes in the consumer and those changes are landing in a place that Chobani has been at for almost 20 years.”
Chobani, known for its Greek yogurt, has expanded its product line to include low-sugar, clean-label and high-protein products. The portfolio also includes creamers, La Colombe coffee, products from plant-based food company Daily Harvest and yogurt.
The Allentown site is also expected to improve Chobani’s logistics and distribution capabilities. The site is within 500 miles of about 40 percent of the U.S. population, giving it access to some of the nation’s largest consumer markets and making it more reliable in getting its products to customers, the company said.
Chobani plans to add up to 10 production lines at the Allentown location, enabling the company to ramp up production of existing products as well as continue developing new food and beverage offerings.
The company said it plans to grow its Allentown investment to about 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space on its campus over the next five years. The facility is expected to process more than 3 billion pounds of Pennsylvania milk annually when fully operational.
“There’s a wildly talented team here that knows how to make great food. Good foundation. And we have an opportunity to make something beautiful out of it,” said Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya.
The acquisition of the Allentown plant comes as Chobani and Keurig Dr Pepper announced changes to their wider partnership. Keurig Dr Pepper is selling its minority stake in Chobani back to the yogurt maker for $800 million as it cuts debt ahead of its planned split early next year.
But the two companies will still be working together. Keurig Dr Pepper will continue to offer ready-to-drink lattes and other beverage items from Chobani’s La Colombe. Meanwhile, Chobani will continue to produce some products for Keurig Dr Pepper at the Allentown facility for a time.
Chobani is spending $1.2 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint and logistics infrastructure, and will make its Allentown site a central hub for production and distribution in the next phase of its growth.
