Chesterfield, VA…Sabra Salads broke ground on a $59.3 million food-processing plant just north of Colonial Heights. Sabra is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Strauss Group, Israel's second-largest food and beverage company. The plant is expected to employ 260 people when it opens by mid-2010. Strauss becomes the first major Israeli food company to open a huge food processing plant in the U.S. "For food companies, it is often more practical and economical to manufacture products closer to their end markets," said Will Davis, Chesterfield's economic-development director. "A $60 million investment and 260 jobs, even in an up economy, is a home run," said Pat Gottschalk, Virginia's Secretary of Commerce and Trade. He added,"Frankly, in a down economy, it is a grand-slam home run. The entire Richmond area benefits from geographic advantages.” A spokesman for Sabra said that the new plant was in a good strategic location for the company.
