No Plans To Retire Crowley Milk Brand

A year after HP Hood shut down the Binghamton Crowley dairy processing plant on the city's South Side, some area residents are wondering whether the brand that's been associated with milk in this region will disappear.

The Crowley name appears to be safe, at least for now.

Lynne Bohan, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts-based HP Hood, recently told WNBF News the company has "no plans to phase out the Crowley brand at this time."

Crowley milk still is available on supermarket shelves in the Binghamton area. But the products that bear the familiar name now are processed elsewhere.

The Crowley milk found in Broome County bears the plant code "42-207." That's a Rosenberger's Dairies facility in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. It's north of Philadelphia and about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Binghamton.

Crowley Foods continues to maintain a corporate office on Pennsylvania Avenue in Binghamton. The company also operates a local distribution center at the site of the former plant.

HP Hood now has about 70 employees in the Binghamton area. Fifty-four people who worked at the processing plant lost their jobs when it shut down last March 16.