Industry Food production Revenue US$90 million (2007) | Products Dips and spreads Founded 1986 | |
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Type Limited liability company Predecessor Sabra-Blue & White Foods 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) Headquarters White Plains, New York, United States CEO Shali Shalit-Shoval (13 Aug 2013–) Parent organizations PepsiCo, Strauss, Strauss Fresh Foods Ltd. Profiles | ||
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. All Sabra products are certified kosher and vegetarian, and are available throughout the U.S. and Canada. As of 2008, the company held a 34.7% market share for Mediterranean salads, dips and spreads.
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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. 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. The company grew over 50% between August 2008 and August 2009.
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.
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.
Sabra launched its first U.S. national advertising campaign in March 2009, with the StrawberryFrog ad agency. In May 2009, the company began a series of promotional events in which it recreated "Mediterranean villages" in 11 major U.S. cities.
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. Activists in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign have called for boycotts of Sabra products, over the donations. Student groups at DePaul University, Princeton University, and the University of Ottawa campaigned unsuccessfully to have their schools switch to alternate brands.
Hummus recalls
On 8 April 2015, Sabra recalled 30,000 cases of its classic hummus after a tub in Michigan tested positive for Listeria. 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.
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.