Frozen food company plans major Long Island expansion, 300 jobs — despite fire setback

A manufacturer of Asian-inspired frozen foods plans to open a major new Central Islip facility and create hundreds of new jobs — even after a March fire damaged the site.

Water Lilies Food will open the new, roughly 200,000-square-foot manufacturing, warehouse and office site at 250 Creative Dr. by the end of the year, more than doubling its Long Island footprint, CEO Peter Lee said.

The expansion is expected to create 300 new jobs within two years of the facility's opening, according to an agreement with the Town of Islip Industrial Development Agency.

The company currently operates a 130,000-square-foot building in North Bay Shore, where it also receives low-cost electricity through the state, Newsday reported. It relocated there in 2020 from Astoria, Queens.

The company’s growth comes amid a growing interest in Asian cuisine nationwide, said Chad Moutray, chief economist at the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association. 

New York-based research firm Persistence Market Research valued the U.S. Asian food market at $38.1 billion in 2025, and projected it would grow to $52.5 billion by 2032.

“When you think of some of the growing trends in the restaurant industry, Asian cuisine has been towards the top of the list,” Moutray said. “There’s a lot of interest in popular culture in Asia right now, and I think it's driving some of the interest in Asian cuisine.”

Lee said he had hoped to open the Central Islip site in June, but the March 3 fire that heavily damaged the building pushed that timeline back by three to six months. Firefighters from 18 departments responded to the blaze, Newsday reported.

Lee said that damage from the fire will not stop the expansion.

“We have a full plan to move forward,” Lee said. “We would love to have the facility up as soon as possible.”

Water Lilies has scored state and local incentives to support the expansion, including discounted electricity through the state power authority's ReCharge New York program last month and tax credits tied to job creation and investment. Water Lilies has committed to spending at least $59 million on the Central Islip facility, according to the power authority.

The project has been years in the making. In 2023, the Town of Islip Industrial Development Agency approved up to $1.28 million in sales tax exemptions on equipment and 15 years of property tax savings as part of the project. 

The company has also received up to $7.35 million in state tax credits and grants since 2012 through Empire State Development, New York’s primary business aid group, according to the agency.