Case 6-1  Chobani

Chobani LLC, is a producer and marketer of Greek yogurt. Thecompany was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, an immigrant fromTurkey, who recognized the lack of options for high-quality yogurtin the United States. The company is headquartered in Norwich, NewYork, and it employs approximately 2,000 employees. It operates twomanufacturing plants—its original facility in central New York anda second new state-of-the-art facility in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The mission of the company is “To provide better food for morepeople. We believe that access to nutritious, delicious yogurt madewith only natural ingredients is a right, not a privilege. Webelieve every food maker has a responsibility to provide peoplewith better options, which is why we’re so proud of the way ourfood is made.” Chobani’s core values are integrity, craftsmanship,innovation, leadership, people, and giving back.

The company’s beginning in 2005 occurred when Hamdi Ulukayadiscovered a notice about an old Kraft yogurt factory in SouthEdmeston that was closed. He decided to obtain a business loan inorder to purchase it. Between 2005 and 2007, Ulukaya worked withfour former Kraft employees and yogurt master Mustafa Dogan todevelop the recipe for Chobani Greek Yogurt. Between 2007 and 2009,the company started to sell its yogurt in local grocery storesincluding Stop and Shop and ShopRite. By 2010, Chobani Greek yogurtbecame the best selling Greek yogurt in the United States. Thecompany pursued global expansion by entering Australia in 2011 andthe United Kingdom in 2012. In 2013, the company opened itsinternational headquarters in Amsterdam, and Hamdi Ulukaya wasnamed the Ernst and Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.

Chobani has achieved its success in large part due to itsability to innovate in its product lineup. For example, in 2016, itlaunched a new line of yogurt drinks, more flavors of its Flipmix-in product, and even a concept café in Manhattan.

The company also created a food incubator program that isdesigned to provide resources, expertise (e.g., brand andmarketing, packaging and pricing), and funding to small, youngcompanies that have promising ideas for new natural foods that theyaspire to develop.

Although Hamdi Ulukaya has been extremely successful in hisfounding and establishment of Chobani, he has recognized that thereare some key lessons learned from his experience as the head of ayoung but very successful and industry-leading company. Theseinclude the importance of hiring people with functional experiencesuch as marketing, supply chain, logistics, operations, and qualitycontrol, as they were essential to the smooth operation of thecompany. In addition, remembering to respect the competition andnot to underestimate it is critical, as Chobani’s two maincompetitors, Dannon and Yoplait, launched their own Greek yogurtlines, and they were able to win back some of Chobani’s marketshare over time.

Discussion Questions

5.   Think aboutmanaging change at a personal level. Why is it so hard for so manypeople to change their behavior or way of thinking? Are thesepersonal challenges to managing change also relevant to managingchange in organizations?

6.   What can youlearn from Hamdi Ulukaya about what is needed to become asuccessful entrepreneur?