Ahead of World Refugee Day, Chobani founder appeals to CEOs Since Chobani was founded over a decade ago, the food maker has always been a different kind of company. "Don't worry about your shareholders . I celebrate people coming and being partners and being shareholders. All the Polish people, they take them to their home. There are no tent towns or cities. Ulukaya is no ordinary businessman. When the imported cheese proved popular, Ulukaya opened a small wholesale feta cheese plant of his own, called Euphrates, in Johnstown, New York in 2002. Or do whatever you need to do, to support the next phase of the company. Hamdi Ulukaya, known as the yogurt king, is the founder of America's most popular Greek yogurt brand, Chobani. We are over 220 multinational companies. Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Chobani, Global Citizen , . You say, Im going to buy this plant and Im going to launch a yogurt. Not the profits. Candid conversations on talent, tech, and the future of business. And then, the first signs of the product being received really well by people made me think that this is going to be reallyyou know, challenges that comes with making Chobani, are not necessarily selling, because people already have so much desire to buy. The film's heart can be summarized by Ulukaya's belief that "the minute you get a job, that's the minute you stop being a refugee. Hamdi Ulukaya: Creating the Right Environment | Stanford Graduate [65], In May 2019, it was reported that the Warwick school district in Rhode Island would be instituting a policy whereby students who had outstanding school lunch debt would only be served sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches, causing an uproar that they were essentially "school lunch shaming" students who had delinquent accounts, aside from denying them nutritionally balanced lunches. The refugee settlement agency would say, Oh, they dont speak the language. A special email series for subscribers. For more informationabout Chobani, please visithttp://www.chobani.com. Chobani CEO: Corporate margins may explain food inflation Thats why its thick, its creamy, and nutritionally dense. Today, its getting better, because theres a push. And I come down to one reality. Today Chobani is a global player and has more than 20% of the U.S. yogurt market. Even though it had just three sessions, they were chock-full of compelling ideas and calls for action. And the average they stay in a camp or a city, stuck, 19, 20 years. I had a small cheese factory in upstate New York. ADI IGNATIUS: We are having a conversation here at our company about how you talk to your children about something like the Russian invasion of Ukraine? And I went to visit the plant the next day, and turns out that this was a very old, almost 70, 80 years old factory, was being closed by Kraft, and they were getting out of the yogurt business and the price was extremely cheap. And I always knew what she would tell me, Stop smoking, do this, do this right, do this right. But at least I carried her teachings with me during that time. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Today Chobani is a global player and has more than 20% of the U.S. yogurt market. Reprint: R1310A The author grew up on a. HAMDI ULUKAYA: Adi, I was there, I think, last week or week before, I lost count in the days. ADI IGNATIUS: Hamdi and I were talking before we started the live broadcast, and you are the great American success story. From Kurdish shepherd to billionaire CEO: Hamdi Ulukaya turned milk into gold and created a model for 21st-century leadership. 30% of Chobani's 2,000 employees were born outside the United States, and several hundred are resettled refugees. If you are in upstate New York or in Idaho or somewhere else, you look at 5, 6, 7, 8 years ago, at a typical factory, workers will work at minimum wage, probably not much benefits and the common things like parental leaves or family resources, none of those would be available. You look at the peoples living expenses in that community and you make your own math and say, This minimum wage is not going to work so we have to be certain level of the income, basic income.. About ChobaniOur founding mission is "better food for more people" but over a decade later, as we've grown from a yogurt company to a food-focused wellness company, Chobani has expanded its guiding vision toachieve nutritional, social, and environmental wellness. Chobani's Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors The Turkish traditional yogurt is the cream on top. He signed up for The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. He also negotiated to pay off the slotting fees over time as the yogurt sold. I think the biggest challenge I had throughout this whole thing was the stages that you go through in your company. But how do you still maintain that line of, I dont know how to say, of friendliness, but not across the lines? [77][78][79][80] Donations have included major grants to support famine relief efforts in Somalia,[78] and to underwrite the New York City Pianos project launched by Sing for Hope. But we were growing so quickly, I needed more help. Rather than pay stores a slotting fee, which his start-up company could not afford, he paid stores in yogurt rather than in cash to stock his wares. Its a perfect moment for us to be able to have others to come and join.. HAMDI ULUKAYA: I think leaders needs to understand between being friendly, and being a friend. For Chobani's CEO, leadership means putting your people first Hamdi Ulukaya, who just won the World Winner Entrepreneur of the Year Award, is a good example. I am here now, 1.4 million square feet, huge factory. Why the change? Ive settled in upstate New York. In April 2019, Ulukaya gave a TED Talk on the TED conference main stage in Vancouver, entitled "The anti-CEO playbook". For more information,pleasevisitwww.chobani.com andwww.facebook.com/chobani. So another border, right? It is impossible. Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and chief executive of Chobani, arrived in the United States 24 years ago with $3,000 to his name. I really didnt have much of a network. [69][70][71], Ulukaya was a member of the Upstate Regional Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,[72][73] and previously served as vice chair of the corporate fund board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Beyond keeping them safe, Chobani introduced . I thought, I have one shot at this. Master of Business Administration, SUNY Albany. We had some down moments and up moments. For one thing, Daniel was born in 1850 while for Hamdi, the year was 1972. , , , , , , Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning), Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy, Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American, Chobani Invests in Expanded Employee Benefits to Enhance Values-Driven, People-First Culture, Chobani Expands Zero Sugar Platform with the Launch of Chobani Zero Sugar* Drinks. Then you can be a standalone sizable company. They were both born into farming families - but that is where the similarities stop, at least in their early lives. So my fight was, if I dont have investors, then nobody can force me to sell, or nobody can force me to merge or do other things. Forbes Lists #1434 Billionaires (2023) Global Game Changers (2017) Personal Stats Age 50 Source of Wealth Greek yogurt, Self Made Residence Norwich, New York Citizenship Turkey Marital Status. HAMDI ULUKAYA: Should it be Albanian yogurt? Ulukaya's success and entrepreneurship has garnered him numerous awards, honors. Nation Jun 16, 2019 6:51 PM EDT Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of leading Greek yogurt brand Chobani, says he is evangelizing the idea of a so-called 'CEO playbook' to shift some of the. Can I start Chobani, not to follow the footsteps of the company that closed it?. The Greeks call it, I dont know what the Greek word for it is. [40] Chobani expanded internationally to Australia in 2011,[41] into Mexico in 2016[42] and by 2021 it exported also to China, Malaysia and Thailand. Changemaker Interview with Chobani Founder Hamdi Ulukaya, and why purpose has prevailed in his business operations since day one. HAMDI ULUKAYA: Thank you, my friend. But we must rise to those tasks armed with courage, faith, love and an abiding commitment to We organized in Germany, Canada, and here. I did not have people who have done this before. He now runs a company with annual sales of $1.5 billion. I n the days that followed the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant and CEO of Chobani, donated . And theres such a long way to go. He has also worked to improve the community in Twin Falls by supporting the Southern Idaho Children's Learning Center, Twin Falls Rapids Soccer Club, and other community programs. I dont think this yogurt is heavily consumed in Greece either, because again, its more used for cooking. Chobani founder, ex-wife wage ugly ownership war", "How Mon Coeur Founder Louise Ulukaya Is Making The World A Better Place", "Obama honors Turkish entrepreneur Hamdi Ulukaya", "At Chobani, the Turkish King of Greek Yogurt", "US-based Turkish yogurt tycoon married in New York", "An immigrant himself, Chobani yogurt founder becomes icon for refugees", "Chobani CEO Surprises Employees With Ownership Stake in the Company", "Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya: Startups Are 'Cool' But Let's Focus On People Who 'Make Things'", "Chobani Takes Top Spot as America's #1 Selling Yogurt Brand", "Chobani Yogurt CEO: I Had No Business Experience", "Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013", "The Most Important Entrepreneurs of the Past Decade", "UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres announces Founder and CEO of Chobani, Mr. Hamdi Ulukaya as SDG Advocate", "Greek yogurt billionaire fills his plants with refugees", "Chobani billionaire shares wealth and experience with Kurdistan", "It's All Greek to Him: Chobani's Unlikely Success Story", "How Turkish 'Dairy Boy' Hamdi Ulukaya Started $600 Million Chobani", "Just Add Sugar: How an immigrant from Turkey turned Greek yogurt into an American snack food", "Honorary Degree Recipients: Hamdi Ulukaya, Doctor of Humane Letters", "Chobani's Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors", "Old Factory, Snap Decision Spawn Greek-Yogurt Craze", "Agro-Farma's Ulukaya Interview About Chobani Yogurt", "Hamdi Ulukaya tells his story at Entrepreneur Weekend", "CMI Industrial door closes, Chobani Australia opens", "Chobani Founder: Why Quality & Community Are they Keys To Brand Success", "Chobani Increases Its Appetite for Business Growth With Microsoft Technologies", "Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani Yogurt Founder, One Of The World's Newest Billionaires", "U.S. Later on it becomes a problem, and I see that all the time. Our growth is really, really good. Or bring some new people. [64], In July 2017, Ulukaya launched the Hamdi Ulukaya Initiative (HUG) to train Turkish entrepreneurs who are running existing startups or planning on starting a new venture. [8][9][10] Ulukaya is the owner, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Chobani, the #1-selling strained yogurt brand in the US. And your example of Poland and other central European countries taking in all those refugees is inspiring. I always had a Chobani hat on me. Feb. 5, 2021. Each week, Ignatius interviews a top leader on LinkedIn Live previous interviews included Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi. Chobani Founder Faces Racism, Death Threats For Hiring Immigrants So it gets harder if you try to make it better food, with holistic ingredients, with natural ingredients, with nutrition dense food. At Advertising Weeks The Brands That Matter Now discussion in New York City, Hamdi Ulukaya talks about Chobani and its enduring brand. So this is a sign. Its not consumed. How we make it at home, or industrially. In that, four factory workers and myself, we started this place. But if I go back and ask the people, What do you love most about Chobani?, its unanimously, I feel at home. Sign up to get PRNs top stories and curated news delivered to your inbox weekly! All Rights Reserved. HAMDI ULUKAYA: The number one is recognition. So I end up making cheese in a small scale in upstate New York. Hamdi Ulukaya learned to care about both dairy products and supporting marginalized people from a young age. If you try to make it, it gets a lot harder. [57], In 2014 Ulukaya pledged to donate $2 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. And I went to Switzerland, UNHCR, and tried to understand how, individually, I can help the people who were fleeing from this horrible people. HAMDI ULUKAYA: Yeah, I think the people caught onto that.