Chobani to invest $1.2 billion in Pennsylvania and create 900 jobs
The parent company of Philly-founded La Colombe is making its latest investment in Pennsylvania.
Chobani, the yogurt company, is expected to announce a $1.2 billion investment in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
The company, which bought Philly-founded La Colombe in 2023 for $900 million, plans to take over an Allentown manufacturing facility from Keurig Dr Pepper.
Chobani will convert the 1.5-million-square-foot site into a dairy plant, and expects to hire 900 workers over the next five years in the Lehigh Valley.
“We’re so happy to be here bringing our future innovation to life in Allentown, made with fresh Pennsylvania milk and delivered to families across the country,” Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani, said in a statement.
The yogurt business got its start in 2005 with a facility in upstate New York, and produces yogurts, creamers and oat milk. Chobani will “manufacture innovative food products beyond yogurt,” at the new Allentown site, located at 7356 Industrial Blvd. in Upper Macungie Township, according to a press release from Gov. Josh Shapiro.
When the facility is up and running, Chobani expects to process more than three billion pounds of milk each year from the state – roughly 30% of what Pennsylvania currently produces annually. Production at the facility is expected to begin next year.
In a statement, Shapiro touted Chobani’s commitment as the largest private-sector investment in the state’s agriculture industry in history.
The investment, he said, “will strengthen our dairy industry, support our farmers, and reinforce our position as a national leader in agriculture and food manufacturing.”
The state of Pennsylvania will provide $50 million in grants and loans toward Chobani’s project, in part for infrastructure improvements needed at the site.
“This announcement is the biggest change for our dairy industry in a generation and represents the culmination of a journey built on collaboration, persistence, and a shared belief in the future of Pennsylvania dairy,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a statement.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
