CHOBANI BOSS DUBS OZ A FOOD HUB
HAMDI Ulukaya, the billionaire owner of the US and Australia’s No.1 Greek yoghurt brand, Chobani, is a strong believer in the strength and entrepreneurial spirit of the Australian economy.
He plans to position the business to be a major food exporter into Asia.
“I want Australia to lead us globally where we go,” Mr Ulukaya said.
“I also want Chobani Australia to be our innovation engine, so that is what we want to create. Between the US and Australia we can pretty much cover global innovation and products that we want to get into.”
For instance, last year Chobani launched Daily Dollop, a plain, low-fat and lactose-free yoghurt for dogs.
Mr Ulukaya is currently in Australia to oversee the expansion of the Chobani manufacturing plant in Melbourne – its only plant outside the US. He is also here to launch a new food innovation investment program in Australia after previously contributing to an incubator at Melbourne’s Monash University.
Chobani has come a long way since Mr Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent, arrived in the US with little more than $US3000 in his pocket. He went on to create a global yoghurt brand that generates billions of dollars in sales.
The same could be said about Chobani in Australia, which began with Mr Ulukaya’s first trip Down Under in 2011 and is now the country’s No.1 brand in the $1.47bn yoghurt sector. “It hasn’t been a very difficult decision to expand into Australia and it has just been an amazing journey,” he said.
The Melbourne expansion includes a new oat milk plant that will help Chobani become less reliant on outside suppliers.
The added attraction of oat milk, apart from the fact that Mr Ulukaya thinks it tastes better than dairy milk, is its sustainability. It uses far less water and other resources to make.