Why Amy's Kitchen is expanding production of vegetarian, organic foods to New York

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

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

“We intersected consumer needs and who we are. We won’t have to move products from one side of the country to another.”

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 with renewable energy.

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

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

Amy’s is taking a phased approach at its Goshen site “in order to be able to adapt and respond to evolving consumer needs,” the company said in a statement. As such, phases two and three currently have no timeline.

The new operations in Goshen are anticipated to create about 680 full-time jobs, Unkovic said, adding that he has had current employees express interest in relocating 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 further develop the organic farming industry on the East Coast of the U.S.,” Unkovic said in the company’s June 21 announcement.

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

The Goshen facility, however, won’t be the company’s first pass at venturing to the Eastern portion of the country.

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

“It’s all about location and how within the community you’re supported and welcome, which is very important for Amy’s,” Unkovic said. “We found those elements in Goshen, as well as in the county.” Goshen is located in Orange County, New York.

The company stated it doesn’t have any current plans for further expansion.

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

Amy’s also is building a 4,125-square-foot Amy’s Drive Thru in Corte Madera, projected to open in late March 2020, Dave Wolfgram, president, 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 reports employing more than 2,400 people. Amy’s Kitchen makes more than 260 products - mostly organic - in the U.S., and continues to develop channels in over 23 international markets, according to the company. Its products are sold in retail outlets throughout the U.S. and abroad.