Why Amy’s Kitchen is expanding its production of vegetarian and organic foods in New York City

With 60% of its domestic sales coming from the eastern part of the United States, Petaluma-based Amy’s Kitchen saw an opportunity to build a production facility based on the east coast. So on June 21, the maker of vegetarian and organic products put shovels in the ground at a site in Goshen, New York – about 60 miles north of Manhattan.

The company chose Goshen because the city offered its support for the project through $ 6.8 million in performance-based incentives and a low-cost electricity allowance for the new facility, said Xavier Unkovic, president of Amy’s Kitchen, at Jounral. Discussions began in 2014.

“We intersected the needs of consumers and who we are. We will not have to move products across the country.

Current plans include an environmentally efficient facility – up to 389,000 square feet – that the company said it hopes will ultimately be LEED certified, zero waste to landfill and run on renewable energy.

Final design work is still underway on the first of three phases of Amy’s project, as is the completion of preparatory work at the site. Construction of the building is expected to begin in the spring.

Completion of the site will be phased with the cooking of the first products, which is expected to begin in 2021, Unkovic said.

Amy’s is taking a phased approach at its Goshen site “so it can adapt and meet changing consumer needs,” the company said in a statement. Thus, phases two and three currently have no timeline.

The new operations at Goshen are expected to create around 680 full-time jobs, Unkovic said, adding that current employees have expressed interest in moving to Goshen.

“We are delighted to be in Goshen for the long term and to contribute to the local economy, both through the jobs we provide, as well as by helping to further develop the organic farming industry on the east coast of the United States, ”Unkovic said. in the company’s June 21 announcement.

Amy’s has two other manufacturing plants outside of California: in Medford, Oregon; and Pocatello, Idaho.

Goshen’s installation, however, will not be the company’s first step in venturing into the eastern part of the country.

Amy’s announced plans to build a production facility in Greenville, SC in 2011, but halted plans in 2013. Andy Berliner, CEO and co-founder of the company, told Press Democrat at the time that the company had struggled in South Carolina. to establish the supply system for the natural and organic crops necessary for its products.

“It all depends on the location and how you are supported and welcomed in the community, which is very important to Amy’s,” Unkovic said. “We found these items in Goshen, as well as in the county. Goshen is located in Orange County, New York.

The company said it currently has no plans to expand.

Meanwhile, Amy’s will open a 1,600 square foot restaurant in Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport on July 23. The SFO location marks Amy’s second restaurant and her first that isn’t also a drive-thru.

Amy’s is also building a 4,125 square foot Amy’s Drive Thru in Corte Madera, scheduled to open in late March 2020, Dave Wolfgram, president of Amy’s Drive Thru, previously told the Business Journal.

Amy’s Kitchen made its first foray outside the supermarket aisles in 2015, when it opened Amy’s Drive Thru in Rohnert Park.

Andy and Rachel Berliner founded Amy’s Kitchen in 1987 with four employees; today, it claims to employ more than 2,400 people. Amy’s Kitchen manufactures more than 260 products – mostly organic – in the United States and continues to develop channels in more than 23 international markets, according to the company. Its products are sold through outlets in the United States and abroad.