source: WHYY
Yogurt maker Chobani will spend approximately $1.2 billion over the next five years to take over a 1.5-million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County, creating more than 900 full-time jobs and establishing the company’s first dairy production operation in Pennsylvania.
Governor Josh Shapiro made the announcement Tuesday at a farm in Schnecksville alongside Chobani Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya and several state cabinet members.
The state says the investment is the largest private-sector commitment in the history of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry, as reported by politicspa.com.
At full capacity, the facility is projected to process more than three billion pounds of Pennsylvania milk each year — roughly 30 percent of the state’s total annual milk production.
The Facility and How Chobani Got It
Chobani will acquire the Allentown manufacturing and warehouse campus from Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), located at 7356 Industrial Boulevard in Upper Macungie Township. The plant first opened for production in 2021.
According to Chobani’s press release via PR Newswire, the transaction is part of a broader deal in which KDP is selling its minority stake in Chobani back to the yogurt company for $925 million, allowing KDP to pay down debt ahead of a planned corporate split.
Chobani will continue producing certain KDP products at the Allentown site for a period after the sale under a co-manufacturing agreement.
The facility sits within 500 miles of roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population, a geographic advantage Chobani cited when explaining the site selection. Plans call for up to 10 production lines.
Beyond Yogurt: Chobani’s New Product Focus
Chobani intends to use the Allentown campus to manufacture products beyond its signature yogurt.
The company plans to produce milk with higher protein and lower sugar content than conventional milk, sold as a multi-serve family product, along with high-protein shakes made from whole ingredients.
Ulukaya told the Schnecksville event that he sees parallels between Pennsylvania’s dairy farming tradition and the Upstate New York farming communities where Chobani was founded.
Pennsylvania farmers will feel the scale of the demand shift.
The state is home to more than 4,300 dairy farms, and the new facility’s milk requirements would represent the largest single increase in demand for Pennsylvania dairy on record, according to politicspa.com. Pennsylvania farm businesses
What State Officials Said
Shapiro said the investment reflects Pennsylvania competing aggressively for large economic development projects by moving at the speed of business and giving companies confidence to grow here.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, who joined Shapiro at the announcement, called it the biggest change for the state’s dairy industry in a generation, describing it as the product of collaboration and a shared commitment to Pennsylvania dairy’s future.
Revenue Secretary Pat Browne said the investment reinforces the role dairy farmers and manufacturers play in the state economy.
6abc notes that key local partners in the deal include the Lehigh County Authority, Upper Macungie Township, Lower Macungie Township, South Whitehall Township, and the City of Allentown.
Chobani already has a presence in Pennsylvania through its 2023 acquisition of Philadelphia-based coffee roaster La Colombe for $900 million.