Amy’s Kitchen expands to New York

Organic and frozen food giant Amy’s Kitchen has begun work on a $95 million manufacturing plant and distribution center in rural New York state.

Grading has begun on the property, which is located in Goshen in Hudson Valley about 1 1/2 hours north of New York City. Groundbreaking will most likely take place later this spring, city officials said.

Construction of the 369,000-square-foot plant is expected to take about 18 months.

The plant will also create about 700 new jobs.

“We’re very happy to have them here,” said Doug Bloomfield, Goshen town supervisor. “This is the best thing to happen to Goshen since the railroad came here in the 1840s.”

Based in Petaluma, Amy’s has three other locations where it manufactures its vegetarian meals. Production at the Santa Rosa plant is focused on entrees and burritos, the Pocatello, Idaho, location makes soup and entrees, and the Medford, Ore., location focuses on pizza and soup, according to Lauren Clancy, company spokesperson.

The company makes more than 250 products, employing 2,400 workers in the U.S., and sells directly to 29 countries.

Amy’s also opened its first drive-through restaurant in Rohnert Park in 2015 and is expected to announce another location this year.

The company uses only certified-organic and non-GMO ingredients, and sources locally.

Goshen, with a population of about 14,000, is an agricultural area with thousands of acres devoted to growing a variety of crops including lettuce, cabbage, onions and corn. Many of the farms are certified organic, Bloomfield said. He predicts that with the arrival of Amy’s, some of those that are not will convert to organic in the future. The area is also home to dairy farms and cheese manufacturers.

Plans for the Amy’s property also include a 200,000-square-foot pavilion that would be used for gatherings for Science of the Soul, a spiritual-development movement based in New Delhi, India, with a study center in Petaluma.