PepsiCo, Theo Müller get the party started on a new yogurt plant in New York state
PepsiCo marks the start of a state-of-the-art yogurt facility today that is expected to create more than 180 jobs in upstate New York.
PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi (shown with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo) and Theo Müller Group CEO Heiner Kamps, joint venture partners in a new U.S. dairy business, held a ceremony to signal the start of a new yogurt manufacturing facility in Batavia, N.Y. The business is known as Muller Quaker Dairy and its facility is said to be one of the largest yogurt manufacturing plants in the United States. The plant is expected to create more than 180 new jobs in upstate New York.
Upstate New York has become the nation's yogurt belt because of the high-quality milk source available from the Empire State's dairy farmers. Other dairy processors making yogurt in the region include Fage (in Johnstown), Chobani (South Edmeston), Emmi Roth (Penn Yan) and Alpina (Batavia). Muller Quaker Dairy is building the 350,000-square-foot facility on an 82-acre parcel of land in Batavia. The first phase of construction is scheduled to be completed in 2013.