Chobani continues its long-term plan to expand its manufacturing facilities across the US with a $1.2 billion investment over five years in a former Keurig Dr Pepper production plant in Allentown, Pa., announced on Sept. 1.
The 1.5 million square foot production plant slated to open in 2027 includes plans for 10 production lines to generate 900 jobs and will source three billion pounds of Pennsylvania milk for Chobani’s high protein milk. The Pennsylvania Sites Initiative, which provides public construction and planning grants and loans, invested an additional $50 million towards public infrastructure to support the facility’s expansion – including addressing wastewater, water and energy challenges at the Allentown site.
The provisions of Chobani’s $125 million KPD facility purchase include buying back KDP’s $800 million equity stake in its business for a total of $925 million, according to KDP. The partnership originally supported Chobani’s La Colombe in 2023 and leveraged KDP’s direct store delivery network. With Chobani’s full ownership the facility will be converted into a dairy processing plant.
‘The largest single investment in Pennsylvania agricultural history’
The Allentown facility will source milk from several of the 4,300 dairy farms across Pennsylvania, which Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says will increase demand for the state’s milk by 30%.
Shapiro describes Chobani’s Allentown facility purchase as “the largest single investment in Pennsylvania agricultural history.” The Allentown plant is part of Chobani’s $4 billion expansion strategy in its manufacturing network across the country.
These investments include building a new dairy processing facility in Rome, NY, expanding manufacturing operations in Twin Falls, Id., updating the original New Berlin, NY, site and expanding the Norton Shores, Mich., factory which produces La Colombe beverages.
Chobani’s Founder Hamdi Ulukaya, who grew up on a family farm herding sheep in rural Türkiye and immigrated to the US to work on a farm, emphasized his respect for American agricultural communities.
“The tradition of family farming in upstate New York, investing Pennsylvania is something that we need to preserve. ... The reality is, when we look around us – the land, the people, the farmers, the people who work with their hands, and then the food that comes from this hand – we want those to go to the next generations and the next generations, no matter what happens. That carries the humanity with it. We can never lose that,” he said.
Chobani’s agricultural partnerships extend into regenerative initiatives. These include Cornell’s Nutrient Management Spear Program, which quantitatively tracks regenerative practices that directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve biodiversity, and the University of Idaho’s Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment, a research dairy farm that conducts long-term experiments on soil health, nutrient management and water contamination solutions.
Editor’s Note: The previous headline stated KDP’s stake to be $925 million. The correct amount is $800 million with the additional $125 million from the facility sale.
