new berlin new york united states 2005 headquarters norwich new york united states key people hamdi ulukaya founder & ceo number of employees 2 000 website chobani.com chobani is an american brand of strained yogurt produced by chobani llc . the company was founded in 2005 when hamdi ulukaya 1 2 bought a plant in the town of new berlin new york that was being closed by kraft foods . ulukaya hired several of the former kraft employees as well as a yogurt master and launched his brand in 2007 . 3 contents 1 history 2 retail 3 international expansion 3.1 australia 3.2 canada 3.3 uk 4 references 5 external links history edit the word chobani is derived from the persian loanword in turkish oban meaning shepherd . chobani has approximately 2 000 employees and is the top selling brand of yogurt in the united states . 4 in 2012 chobani became an official sponsor of the us olympic team 5 and premiered their first national commercial during the 2012 summer olympics opening ceremony . 6 on december 17 2012 chobani opened one of the world s largest yogurt processing plants in twin falls idaho . the one million square foot facility cost 450 million and employs 300 people . mr. ulukaya said the state expects the total economic impact of our business there to be 1.3 billion . 7 the plant won the 2013 dbia design build project of the year award and the 2013 food plant of the year award from food engineering magazine . 8 on september 3 2013 chobani pulled some of its greek style yogurt from supermarket shelves after hearing of swelling or bloating in cups . the company said it has investigated and found a type of mold commonly found in dairy that may be to blame . 9 chobani announced a voluntary recall on september 5 in cooperation with the fda . 10 on september 9 2013 the fda reported at least 89 people have reported getting sick after eating the yogurt . 11 despite maturing market sales the largest seller of greek yogurt has looked out for its bottom line by launching new products and iterations . 12 it is preparing to launch a new line of flavors at the start of 2016 all aimed at getting people to eat more yogurt throughout the day . 13 in april 2016 chobani announced it was giving 10 percent of its ownership stake to its employees . considering there are 2000 employees this would be on average 150 000 per employee . 14 some employees will be becoming instant millionaires as a result of this action because share awards were based on tenure at the company . 15 retail edit on july 25 2012 chobani opened its first yogurt bar in new york city s soho neighborhood . the menu consists of various dishes made with chobani s yogurt and other natural ingredients . 16 17 chobani sells thick greek style yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional yogurt and is among one of the main companies to popularize this style of yogurt . 18 it promotes its products as healthy food . 19 international expansion edit australia edit november 2011 marked the first international expansion for chobani as their products were launched in new south wales australia . 20 chobani now sponsor the australian short track speed skating team whose members include ron shehab and lloyd . canada edit a short lived canadian launch followed shortly . 21 in 2013 after the expiration of a canadian importation permit and failure to secure a long term milk supply chobani withdrew from the canadian market . 22 uk edit september 2012 saw chobani s introduction in the uk when their yogurt was carried in 200 tesco stores . 23 chobani was ordered in 2013 to change their yogurt s labeling in england and wales after a judge ruled that the wording greek yoghurt rather than greek style misled consumers into thinking the yogurt was made in greece yogurt imported from greece is sold in britain and is the only type sold as greek . 24 25 references edit cultural revolution the greek yogurt phenomenon in america left big food firms feeling sour . they are trying to get better at innovation . the economist . 2013 08 31 . retrieved 2014 07 15 . pendleton devon 2012 09 14 . hidden chobani billionaire emerges as greek yogurt soars . bloomberg . retrieved 2012 10 08 . prasso sheridan 29 november 2011 . chobani the unlikely king of yogurt . cnn money . retrieved 13 july 2012 . business insider trendy greek yogurt chobani is officially the top selling brand in america . oct 8 2011 . retrieved march 4 2014 . elliott stuart 14 june 2012 . anything but ordinary mom pitches for chobani yogurt . the new york times . retrieved 13 july 2012 . bautista camille . chobani s first national tv ad to run during olympic opening ceremonies . the post standard . retrieved 27 july 2012 . strom stephanie 16 december 2012 . u.s. hunger for yogurt leads to gigantic factory . new york times . retrieved 16 december 2012 . fichbach amy february 2014 . chobani builds world s largest yogurt plant . electrical construction and maintenance . 113 2 c6 c8 . retrieved 2014 03 09 . chobani pulls fizzy swelling yogurt off shelves . huffingtonpost.com . 3 september 2013 . retrieved 2013 11 07 . choi candice 5 september 2013 . chobani recalls some greek yogurt cups . usa today . retrieved 20 september 2013 . chobani yogurt linked to 89 reports of illness . abc news . retrieved 10 september 2013 . ferdman roberto a. 18 december 2015 . goodbye good old greek yogurt . the washington post . retrieved 19 december 2015 . wong venessa 14 december 2015 . as greek yogurt growth slows chobani turns to sriracha . buzzfeed news . retrieved 19 december 2015 . http www.greenfieldreporter.com view story 3321e08c2586495c866b724721f01c6d us chobani shares strom stephanie 26 apr 2016 . at chobani it s not just the yogurt that s rich . new york times 27 apr 2016 . retrieved 7 may 2016 . chobani yogurt bar makes big apple debut . the gourmet retailer . retrieved 30 july 2012 . nothing but good chobani founder hamdi ulukaya named ernst & young national entrepreneur of the year 2012 overall award winner . retrieved 18 november 2012 . gasparro annie ; josephs leslie 19 december 2013 . whole foods to stop selling chobani . same sex lesbian yogurt commercial has led to boycott attempt by several family advocacy organizations yogurt . the wall street journal . retrieved 9 june 2014 . there s no science in yogurt says chobani . slate . retrieved 9 june 2014 . paish matt . chobani hopes to bring u.s. greek yoghurt boom to australia . australian food news . retrieved 10 november 2011 . chobani america s most loved yogurt now in canada . canada newswire . retrieved 16 november 2011 . chobani no longer on canadian shelves . cave andrew 3 september 2012 . chobani yoghurt launch may create 300 new jobs . the telegraph . london . retrieved 3 september 2012 . andrew trotman chobani misled uk shoppers into thinking yoghurt was made in greece the us maker of chobani yoghurt has been ordered to change the product s labelling in england and wales after a judge ruled it was misleading shoppers the telegraph 28 march 2013 . julia glotz fage scores victory against chobani in greek yoghurt case the grocer 28 march 2013 . external links edit strom stephanie u. s. hunger for yogurt leads to gigantic factory the new york times 16 december 2012 mead rebecca just add sugar the new yorker november 4 2013 . how an immigrant from turkey turned greek yogurt into an american snack food . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title chobani & oldid 740726489 categories brand name yogurtscompanies based in new yorkamerican brandsamerican companies established in 2005 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage 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