Turkish candy company investing $20M in Lehigh Valley

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A Turkish candy company, which has its U.S. headquarters in Whitehall, is investing $20 million to open a packaging and manufacturing facility in Northampton County. 

According to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., Kervan USA produces gummy, licorice, and marshmallow candies.  

It said Kervan products are sold in stores including Walmart, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Trader Joe’s. The company also makes branded candy, for companies, including Crayola. 

The company currently has packaging and distribution locations in New Jersey. 

It will consolidate those operations and its Whitehall headquarters, with plans to add manufacturing in the future at a 90,000-square-foot building under construction in Lower Nazareth and Bethlehem townships that is expected to open next year.  

“This location made perfect sense, both proximity to the ports and the workforce,” Gokhan Kacmaz, Kervan USA’s CFO, said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “We saw a big opportunity. All this made the Lehigh Valley a great location to make this investment.” 

The cost to locate in the Lehigh Valley compared to New Jersey was another advantage, Kervan executives said. 

“The advantages that Kervan USA identified in the Lehigh Valley are what make the region a hub for food and beverage manufacturing,” said Doug Warfel, director of attraction and lending at the LVEDC. 

“The location between New York and Philadelphia provides access to multiple ports and international airports and is within a day’s drive of one-third of the U.S. population, making it easy for manufacturers to get their products to market.” 

Food and beverage manufacturing is one of the sectors of the economy targeted for growth by LVEDC in its new strategic plan. 

Warfel noted that food and beverage companies operating in the Lehigh Valley include global brands such as Coca-Cola, Boston Beer, Ocean Spray, and Keurig Dr Pepper, along with Freshpet,  Bimbo Bakeries, and Bakerly/Norac Foods, and smaller producers such as Kervan USA, The Granola Factory, and Mishka Vodka. 

He said employment in food and beverage production in the Lehigh Valley has increased by about 52% in the last decade, to about 7,100. Nearly half of all dog and cat food production jobs in Pennsylvania are in the Lehigh Valley.