Hummus king Sabra is relocating this summer from its Astoria, Queens, headquarters to Richmond, Va., where it built a larger processing facility.
The move will be completed by Aug. 30 and 154 employees are affected, according to a notice the company filed with the New York state Department of Labor.
The 24-year-old company was acquired in 2005 by an Israeli food conglomerate, Strauss-Elite, which formed a joint venture three years later with PepsiCo called Sabra Dipping Co.
The firm has since outgrown its New York facilities at 24-20 49th St., a spokeswoman said. In addition to the Queens location, the $312 million company has two facilities in Farmingdale, L.I., one of which it will retain.
Sabra makes Mediterranean-style Kosher dips and is reportedly the largest hummus manufacturer in the world. Now it will only get bigger. The new 110,000-square-foot facility will employ 260 people in Richmond.
Virginia’s gain is New York’s loss, said Jack Friedman, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
“Queens has been devastated by the loss of the manufacturing base here,” he said. “We are losing good manufacturing and union jobs to Southern states where there are vast amounts of land available, lower taxes and employment costs.”
(Source: Crains NY)
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12 Responses
Go Sabra! N.Y you can keep your high taxes and mafia Unions
1. Will this affect the hecksher?
2. If New Yorkers wanted to work, they would lower their wages to be competitive. New Yorkers aren’t really the sort of people any intelligent employer would want to hire. Remember, Unions are run by the members, and members get to vote on whether to be in a union, and the decision to set union wages and union rules such as to put the company out of business are solely a function of employee greed (no more, and no less, than the greed than undermined the financial services industry).
Very nice.
Why is it so hard for the NYC. Government to fix this trend. Give manufacturing a break and it will slowly come back. Instead they go. after businesses every day with fines and aggravation. They fine you if your neckie is the wrong color.
Why is it so hard for the NYC. Government to fix this trend. Give manufacturing a break and it will slowly come back. Instead they go. after businesses every day with fines and aggravation. They fine you if your necktie is the wrong color.
OMG!! What are we going to do? No Sabra Humus or Tahini? cant live without it, guess we’ll move to VA
this is a terrible loss for the community. mayor gloomberg should be ashamed that an institution like sabra hummus has left town over taxes and employment costs.
Plz be aware , some products have become dairy- cholov stam
price will be the same, freshness will be history! First day the mashgiach calls in sick, the kashrus is out the window since there are few substitutes available out there.
unions in America have destroyed America. Every factory in China and Idia was once in America.Unions have created the overseas giants.
Notice Friedman in last sentence blamed it on taxes and he disguised union problem calling it ’employment costs’ He possibly is afraid of losing his union backing that is destroying THIS GREAT COUNTRY IN EVERY SECTOR USA HAS ”LEFT”.
Therefore Friedman should not repesent his district. I dont know him nor the unions and i am not political.What i said is purely speculation based on the article….BUT I DO KNOW BASIC REASONING,LOGIC AND HISTORY OF AMERICA.
LIKE #1 COMMENT SAID: GO SABRA TO VA, JUST STAY IN AMERICA…OR ISRAEL !
DACON9, you are right on about the unions. The unions are not made up of the members but rather are lead by goons and thugs who lust for more control and money. The more money each union member makes, the more people who join unions, the more money that the union leaders make from dues from individual members.
I once tried going to La Guardia and almost wound up in Riker’s Island! On the way of circling the block for I don’t know how many times, I drove by the Sabra plant in Astoria. The smell was sooooooo geschmack! Hafladig!
Excuse me but Richmond, VA happens to have a very nice frum community. There is an Orthodox shul -> Keneseth Beth Israel, Yeshiva of Virginia, a Chabad and the Nachalei Emunah Hasidic Institute of Virginia. Sabra Foods will be just fine there and welcomed.