Friday, December 10, 2010

No more hummus among us

From the Daily News:

Months after moving its factory from Queens to Virginia, hummus giant Sabra is yanking its headquarters in a one-two punch that cost the city almost 200 jobs.

Yet the state is giving the company a $100,000 gift: financial incentives to open the new offices outside the city in White Plains, Westchester County.

Sabra Dipping Company has called Queens home for more than two decades while it grew into the world's largest maker of hummus.

Six months ago, the company - which is owned by PepsiCo, and an Israeli conglomerate - laid off 154 blue-collar workers and moved the plant to Virginia.

Now it's decided Astoria is too small for its headquarters and is pulling 33 office jobs - without even giving the city advance notice.

But it wasn't a secret to the state, which rolled out a package of incentives to keep Sabra somewhere in New York.

"The goal was to secure Sabra's presence in New York State and to avoid the immediate loss of 33 full-time jobs, as well as 32 new full-time jobs to be created over the next four years," said Lisa Willner of the Empire State Development Corp.

Sabra's new home will be a 30,000-square-foot space in a White Plains office park. The move will take about four months.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The sad part is people in the city don't give a shit and will continue to buy Sabra products , just as they continue to buy products from Stella D'oro, who closed its Bronx factory and sent the jobs down south. People don't care much about local jobs leaving as long as it does not directly affect them.

Anonymous said...

I won't buy it.......damn,i still don't buy ronzoni since they left queens!

Anonymous said...

Owned by an Israeli, company with Pepsi International as its marketing partner, bend over America and hold your ankles. Besides Athenos is still the best.

Anonymous said...

Blame unions, high taxes, and NYC's oppressive work rules for the loss of Sabra and countless of other small and large businesses.

Anonymous said...

Mayor Mike just gave a so-called Presidential Speech the other day at the Navy yard about creating jobs, jobs & more jobs.
Where was here on this situation?
What a BUM ! He can't even keep a company like SABRA Hummus here, some businessman he's turned ourt to be. Phony bastard !!

Anonymous said...

No big deal. I don't purchase Jewish/Israeli products anyway.

Joe said...

I make my own hummus it tales 5 minutes. Also along with wasabi rice crackers its not rocket science.

Screw Pepsi, Coke get yourself a bottle of seltzer from the local distributor and some syrup's (local Fox products) or schmooze some Coke syrup from you local bar owner.
It much better then the watered down off the shelf product.
Back in the day Mullers drug store in Ridgewood used to carry Coke-Cola syrup.

Detective McNutty said...

@Anonymous who said "no big deal"

That view is shortsighted. Manufacturing and factory jobs are leaving the city. We are becoming a city where the majority of new jobs are all in the service industry. While manufacturing and factory jobs may not be glamorous , they do pay a decent wage compared to service jobs.

Someone should ask the Vallones, EDC and community board how they let 200 jobs just leave Astoria without a fight. They can give breaks to Kaufman, Mount Sinai and Hanac but they don't even blink an eye at Sabra.

georgetheatheist said...

Why is it that Virginia companies don't relocate to New York?

Detective McNutty said...

@George

Virgina companies relocate to China or Mexico.

Anonymous said...

Anon No. 6 --

That makes us even. I don't buy from companies with anti-semitic policies.

Katheeee Blaque said...

It's a big deal indeed, Anon. #6!! It's another loss of jobs for a considerable number of people. By the way, I don't knowingly buy from antisemitc companies either. As a matter of fact, did you know that BMW cars are made by the same company who manufactured the ovens for the death camps who slaughtered Jews in World War II. Does Auschwitz, Treblinka, or Dachau ring a bell? Am Yisrael Chai!!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget about Volkswagen, Anon No. 12

Anonymous said...

I guess you also never used an IBM machine or drank Coca Cola. IBM created and maintained the machines used by the concentration camps to keep logs of all the people who were held there. Coca Cola did business in Nazi Germany as Fanta. A corporation cares only about maximizing profit at whatever cost. Sad buy true.

Anonymous said...

Anon #9 that may be true of some companies over 3 generations ago. How about the American and international companies that kill millions each and every year through the sale of land mines and other weapons systems to hard cash buyers. Or health insurance companies who drop millions of sick people to die cause they cost to much. Or every other profit first company worldwide they feel human life is the cost of big profits. BP (Gulf of Mex),Union Carbide (Bopal), or every drug company who use Americans as test subjects, when enough people die they recall that version on the drug.

Anonymous said...

Wait. 33 office jobs. And they're moving to a space in White Plains with 33,000 square feet? Did I misread something?

Anonymous said...

Wait. 33 office jobs. And they're moving to a space in White Plains with 33,000 square feet? Did I misread something?

Anonymous said...

I don't buy Ronzoni, Stella D'oro and now I've given up Sabra's, which I loved because it was local and FRESH. Now it will be stale and old being shipped up here like BAD MEXICAN PRODUCE. Let this shit rot on he shelves and send a message to these greedy corporations.

Anonymous said...

Christ. As easy as this stuff is to make, what's the big deal? 30-some jobs?!!!? What about the other 10 million unemployed?

Detective McNutty said...

@anonymous who thinks its only 30 jobs

Did you read the article? I can understand spelling mistakes but your comprehension is simply bad. It was 200 jobs. This move was the final blow where Sabra left New York state. It is a big deal because manufacturing and factory jobs are leaving the city. Twenty years ago the financial and manufacturing sector where about even in total employment. These manufacturing jobs are being replaced by service industry jobs where the pay is substantially lower.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anon 12, you want to talk about crimes against humanity --Jews gave us the atomic bomb (Oppenheimer), the hydrogen bomb (Teller) and the neutron bomb (Cohen), usury and the "miracle" of daily compounding interest, and bolshevism. Compared to all the misery and harm they've created, I'll take BMW and VW's record any day (even Degussa and IG Farben have done more good for mankind)!

Anonymous said...

Moving the office HQ to White Plains makes sense since Pepsi is headquartered in the area. If I worked at Sabra as a plant person, I'd move to Virginia in a heartbeat. Lower taxes, better climate, lower cost of living...

Anonymous said...

i have never tried hummus or sabra...yuck!
bean curd and bagels ...bagels no kidding never have had one. i eat donuts not dried out bagels. yuck!
poor dopes eat this junk to be trendy.

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