Sabra (company)

Sabra Dipping Company
Limited liability company
Industry Food production
Predecessor Sabra-Blue & White Foods
Founded 1986
Headquarters White Plains, New York[1]
Key people
  • Shali Shalit-Shoval (CEO)
  • Erik Martinoli (CFO)
  • Eugenio Perrier (Chief Marketing Officer)
  • Stacey Zeltner (VP of Human Resources)
  • Frank Armetta (VP of Supply Chain)
  • Tulin Tuzel (CTO)
  • Meiky Tollman (Chief of Operations)
Products Dips and spreads
Revenue US$90 million (2007)[2]
$65 million (2007)[3]
Number of employees
501-1000[4]
Parent Strauss, PepsiCo
Website http://www.sabra.com

Sabra Dipping Company, LLC is a U.S.-based company which produces Middle Eastern-style food products, including hummus, eggplant dip, baba ghanoush, and Mediterranean salsa.[5] All Sabra products are certified kosher and vegetarian, and are available throughout the U.S. and Canada.[6][7][8] As of 2008, the company held a 34.7% market share for Mediterranean salads, dips and spreads.[2]

Growth

The company was founded in 1986 as Sabra-Blue & White Foods. The company was bought in 2005 by Israeli food manufacturer Strauss. In March 2008, Strauss entered a joint-venture partnership with Frito-Lay, a division of the multinational PepsiCo corporation. Strauss owns 50% and PepsiCo 50% of the company.[1][5][9] In November 2008, the company announced the construction of a new US$61 million plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia, expected to employ 260 people and come on line in mid-2010.[10][11] The company grew over 50% between August 2008 and August 2009.[7]

In November 2009, Gadi Lesin, President and CEO of the Strauss group, announced that the market share of the Sabra Dipping Company had reached 40% in the United States, making it the largest hummus manufacturer in the world.[12]

Marketing

During the run-up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Sabra commissioned sculptor Kirk Rademaker to create busts of candidates John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton out of 100 pounds of hummus.[13]

Sabra launched its first U.S. national advertising campaign in March 2009, with the StrawberryFrog ad agency.[1][14] In May 2009, the company began a series of promotional events in which it recreated "Mediterranean villages" in 11 major U.S. cities.[15]

Boycott campaigns

Until 2010, the Strauss Group had a statement on their English website stating that the company donates food packages to the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces.[16][17] Activists in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign have called for boycotts of Sabra products, over the donations.[18] Student groups at DePaul University, Princeton University, and the University of Ottawa campaigned unsuccessfully to have their schools switch to alternate brands.[19][20]

Hummus recalls

On 8 April 2015, Sabra recalled 30,000 cases of its classic hummus after a tub in Michigan tested positive for Listeria.[21] Inspectors with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) learned of the possible contamination by L. monocytogenes after routine inspections on March 30th at a Kroger in Port Huron, according to MDARD spokeswoman Jennifer Holton.[22]

On 19 November 2016, Sabra voluntarily recalled multiple hummus varieties across the U.S. after Listeria was discovered at one of its manufacturing plants, though the company stated the bacteria had not been found in any of its actual products.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Todd Wasserman (March 3, 2009). "Sabra Hummus Breaks National Campaign". Brandweek. Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Sabra Dipping Company, a Joint Venture Between Strauss Group and PepsiCo, Announced Plans to Open a State-of-the-art Plant in Richmond, Virginia". SmartBrief. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  3. "PepsiCo closes Sabra joint venture". Forbes. March 31, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  4. "Sabra Dipping Company, LLC". LinkedIn. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Products". Sabra Dipping Company. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  6. "Sabra FAQ". Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Sabra Hummus Co. Transforms Union Square Park into Mediterranean Café". The New York Blueprint. September 16, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  8. "Sabra Dipping". OK Kosher Certification. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  9. "Strauss Group brands: Sabra". Strauss Group. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  10. "Governor Kaine Announces Sabra Dipping Company Will Open a New Food Manufacturing Plant in Chesterfield County" (PDF) (Press release). Virginia's Gateway Region Economic Development Organization. November 19, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  11. "Sabra Dipping Company, a Joint Venture Between Strauss Group and PepsiCo, Announced Plans to Open a State-of-the-art Plant in Richmond, Virginia". PRNewswire.uk. November 24, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  12. Aviv Levy (November 25, 2009). זינוק במכירות חומוס שטראוס בארה"ב: כבשה 40% מהשוק [Hummus sales surge. Strauss USA captured 40% of the market] (in Hebrew). Globes. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
  13. Theresa Howard (June 30, 2008). "Ad Track: Winning ads really work for consumers". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012.
  14. Amy Martinez; Melissa Allison (March 13, 2009). "Savory Moment's customers come to the aid of its founder". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  15. "Sabra Takes a Mediterranean Village on Tour across North America". PR Web. May 19, 2009. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  16. Ron Friedman; Stephanie Hodes (December 14, 2010). "Strauss reposts IDF-support commitment on website". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  17. Michal Toiba (November 18, 2010). "Strauss Group removes support for IDF from website". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  18. "DePaul students reject ouster hummus brand". Quad-Cities Online. May 25, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  19. "Canadian university students launch Sabra hummus boycott". Haaretz.com. March 9, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  20. Tamar Lewin (December 3, 2010). "New Subject of Debate on Mideast: Hummus". The New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  21. Rachel Abrams (April 9, 2015). "Listeria in Sabra Hummus Prompts New Wave of Recalls". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  22. Robin Erb (April 16, 2015). "Listeria detection prompts national recall by Sabra". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  23. Ralph Ellis (November 19, 2016). "Sabra hummus products recalled over Listeria concerns". CNN. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
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