Center for Dairy Excellence Board Chair Katie Sattazahn and I were excited to be at the announcement yesterday at Crystal Springs Farms in Lehigh County, where Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder & CEO of Chobani, announced Chobani’s $1.2 billion investment to establish its first dairy product manufacturing operation in Pennsylvania. Chobani will assume operations of Keurig Dr Pepper’s (KDP) manufacturing facility in Allentown, Pa., equipment, and related infrastructure, where Chobani plans to manufacture innovative food products beyond yogurt.
Once at capacity, the plant will be capable of processing 3 billion pounds of milk annually, opening a new local market for dairy farm families across Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region. With the plant gearing up to be a Class I or II market, it has significant potential to enhance blend prices for dairy producers in this region. Chobani’s investment in Allentown is an investment in our 4,300 family-owned dairy farm businesses and a testament to both Chobani’s and the Commonwealth’s belief in the power of our industry. For that, we are incredibly grateful.
The announcement also included language around a $120 million commitment that the Commonwealth is making to the Pennsylvania dairy farm community to grow our on-farm milk production in the Commonwealth. While details of how that funding and other programming to support that growth have not been announced yet, we are excited to partner with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and others in sharing these resources with our dairy farm families across the Commonwealth. As those details are announced, we’ll be sharing them through our communication channels.
In the meantime, please join us in celebrating this new beginning for Pennsylvania’s dairy industry and start imagining the possibilities. Click here to read the full release from the Shapiro Administration.
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