Why Chobani’s Billionaire Founder Is Investing $1.2 Billion In A State-Of-The-Art New York Dairy

Forbes

Hamdi Ulukaya has also committed another $500 million to expanding his operation in Idaho—and says he is just getting started.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2025/04/22/why-chobanis-billionaire-hamdi-ulukaya-founder-is-investing-12-billion-in-a-state-of-the-art-new-york-dairy/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, why Chobani's billionaire founder is investing $1.2 billion in a state-of-the-art

00:08New York dairy. Chobani's billionaire founder is going all-in on being American-made. CEO Hamdi

00:16Ulukaya broke ground last week on a new state-of-the-art facility in upstate New York

00:21that will produce 1 billion pounds of Chobani's yogurts, creamers, and other products. Ulukaya

00:28says he will invest $1.2 billion in all, and the plan comes just a month after he also

00:34revealed he is spending $500 million to expand Chobani's plant in Idaho, and he says this

00:39is just the start. Speaking about the expansion, the 52-year-old Ulukaya tells Forbes, quote,

00:46A lot of good food hasn't been made accessible to all, and if you figure out how to make

00:51it accessible to all, the hardest part is how do you make sure that you actually have the

00:55manufacturing capability to do it. We do everything in-house, 100% of the products we make. It's hard

01:02to do because that means plants. As America's top-selling yogurt brand with $3 billion in

01:09annual revenue and yogurt sales up 20% last year, Chobani is in a position most food companies would

01:15envy. Chobani, which acquired La Cologne Coffee for $900 million in 2023, is one of the largest

01:23independent and privately held brands in the consumer packaged goods industry. And it's made

01:29Ulukaya, an immigrant from Turkey who owns the majority of the business, worth an estimated $2.4

01:35billion. Now, Ulukaya is using his clout to double down on the Northeast at a time when the region has

01:43faced an exodus of dairy farmers. Chobani and the New York governor's office are calling the

01:48investment the nation's largest in natural food manufacturing. The new plant will be financed

01:54through Chobani's cash on hand. A Chobani spokesperson said, quote,

01:58These projects are multi-year projects that do not require the company to take on any additional

02:03debt at this time. In addition, incentives from New York State include $73 million in tax credits

02:11over 10 years and $22 million from an economic development shovel-ready grant program, FastNY.

02:17The new facility will be designed to process up to 12 million pounds of milk each day, which means

02:24Chobani, already New York's largest milk purchaser, will increase its spend by an estimated 6 billion

02:30pounds annually. That will be a huge boon for the surviving dairy farmers in the region, many of whom

02:36have struggled as volatile prices and industry consolidation have driven many farms out of

02:41business, while major competitors like Danone have cut contracts or left the region entirely.

02:48Gary Hirshberg, the founder of Stonyfield Organics, cites the Northeast's higher costs for energy

02:54as well as feed for dairy cows. He says, quote,

02:58Our region has really unique challenges. Investment is badly needed. We've lost a lot of the dairy

03:04infrastructure, so any significant investment in upstate New York dairy, it's only a good thing.

03:09But Hirshberg adds that sourcing additional conventional milk is, quote,

03:15not really solving the problem, because the milk sells for such low prices.

03:20Organic milk is better for farmers, especially those in the Northeast, where the farms are far

03:25smaller than on the West Coast, he notes, because farmers need the premium price that organic milk

03:30fetches to ensure that a small family farmer can still make enough money to sustain their business

03:35and withstand shocks to the industry. And there's currently an organic milk shortage.

03:41He says, quote, That's really where investment is needed.

03:46Instead, Chobani has gone mass market. When completed, the 1.4 million square foot facility

03:52in Rome, New York, will be capable of handling up to 28 production lines.

03:57Sitting on 150 acres across the site of the former Griffiths Air Force Base,

04:01the new plant will be Chobani's second in the state and is expected to create 1,000 full-time

04:07jobs in the area. Ulukaya says, quote, Big food has plants, infrastructure, all that stuff,

04:14and that is very hard to build. We spend more time on the fundamentals of the business,

04:19which is making it. To make it to the next level, it's about the fundamentals.

04:23For full coverage, check out Chloe Sorvino's piece on Forbes.com.

04:30This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

Category

Transcript

Recommended