Snack Dip Company Opens Va. Plant

Snack dip company Sabra cut the ribbon Wednesday on its new Virginia manufacturing plant as the joint venture with PepsiCo goes after a growing American appetite for hummus.

New York-based Sabra Dipping Co., which makes a range of refrigerated dips and spreads that are all certified kosher and vegetarian, is a U.S. and Canadian joint venture between Strauss Group and PepsiCo Inc.

The new $70 million, 110,000-square-foot Chesterfield County plant took about 14 months to build and is expected to employ about 300. Sabra began making hummus at the factory about a month ago and plans to have all of its manufacturing at the new facility by September. Sabra also is looking to relocate its headquarters to Virginia.

During the past decade, hummus — a combination of pureed chickpeas and spices — has moved beyond the ethnic food niche and solidly into the American mainstream, filling supermarket refrigerator cases and showing up on restaurant menus nationwide.

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