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
  • Ronen Zohar (CEO)
  • Erik Martinoli (CFO)
  • Shali Shalit-Shoval (Chief Marketing Officer)
  • Paul Parker (VP of Human Resources)
  • John McGuckin (Executive Vice President, Sales)
  • 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
 300[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] As of 2008, the company held a 34.7% market share for Mediterranean salads, dips and spreads.[2]

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][8] 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.[9][10] The company grew over 50% between August 2008 and August 2009.[6]

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.[11]

Sabra launched its first U.S. national advertising campaign in March 2009, with the StrawberryFrog ad agency.[1][12] In May 2009, the company began a series of promotional events in which it recreated "Mediterranean villages" in 11 major U.S. cities.[13]

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.[14]

Boycott campaigns

Activists who oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestine have called for boycotts of the company's products, alleging the company financially supports the Israeli Defense Forces and their human rights violations against Palestinians.[15][16][17] Activists have called for a boycott of the company's products as part of the ongoing global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in supporting of ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine. As of 2014, students from numerous universities in the United States and Canada, such as American University, DePaul University, Princeton University, and the University of Ottawa, have pushed for boycotts of Sabra products.[18][19]

Sabra's parent company, the Strauss Group, has donated money to brigades of the Israeli military, however it is unclear whether it continues to provide financial support. In 2010 the Strauss group changed a statement that endorsed the IDF from their English website.[20][21] During December 2010, Princeton University students voted down a referendum to request "an alternative brand of hummus in addition to Sabra" at campus dining facilities. Students at DePaul University also mounted an unsuccessful challenge against the sale of Sabra hummus.[22]

Hummus recall

On 8 April 2015, Sabra recalled 30,000 cases of its classic hummus after a tub in Michigan tested positive for Listeria.[23] 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.[24]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wasserman, Todd (March 3, 2009). "Sabra Hummus Breaks National Campaign". Brandweek. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "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. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  3. ↑ "PepsiCo closes Sabra joint venture". Forbes.com (Forbes). March 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. ↑ "Sabra Dipping Company, LLC". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Company Profile". Sabra Dipping Company. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sabra Hummus Co. Transforms Union Square Park into Mediterranean Café". The New York Blueprint. Aug 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  7. ↑ "Sabra Dipping Company, LLC". OK Kosher Certification. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  8. ↑ "Boycott Sabra Hummus". Caroline Peace Resource Center. April 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  9. ↑ "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 2009-09-05.
  10. ↑ "Sabra Dipping Company, a Joint Venture Between Strauss Group and PepsiCo, Announced Plans to Open a State-of-the-art Plant in Richmond, Virginia". PR Newswire. November 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  11. ↑ Howard, Theresa (June 30, 2008). "Ad Track: Winning ads really work for consumers". USA Today (New York). Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  12. ↑ Allison, Melissa; Amy Martinez (March 13, 2009). "Savory Moment's customers come to the aid of its founder". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  13. ↑ "Sabra Takes a Mediterranean Village on Tour across North America". PR Web. May 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  14. ↑ Aviv Levy (25 November 2009). זינוק במכירות חומוס שטראוס בארה"ב: כבשה 40% מהשוק (in Hebrew). Globes. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  15. ↑ "DePaul students reject ouster hummus brand". Quad-Cities Online.
  16. ↑ just host. "Welcome bcprights.org - Justhost.com". bcprights.org.
  17. ↑ "Strauss Group removes support for IDF from website". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
  18. ↑ "Canadian university students launch Sabra hummus boycott". Haaretz.com. 9 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Say no to settlement products AND Sabra hummus". Mondoweiss.
  20. ↑ "Strauss removes support for IDF from English website". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
  21. ↑ http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Strauss-reposts-IDF-support-commitment-on-website
  22. ↑ Lewin, Tamar. "New Subject of Debate on Mideast: Hummus". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  23. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/business/listeria-in-sabra-hummus-prompts-new-wave-of-recalls.html
  24. ↑ http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/04/08/listeria-detected-hummus/25491479/