Hamdi Ulukaya, The Founder Of Chobani Yogurt, On Bringing Humanity To Work Profitably

The son of nomadic sheep farmers from the Turkish mountains, Hamdi Ulukaya was an improbable candidate to upend the ruthlessly competitive global dairy industry. After arriving in the U.S. in 1994 to study business and English, he settled in upstate New York—and in 2005 saw a classified ad for an abandoned yogurtmaking facility. Two years later, he launched Chobani, which today is an estimated $1.5 billion company and the top-selling brand of Greek yogurt in the country. The company, which also operates the world’s largest yogurt facility, in Twin Falls, Idaho, pays workers, on average, twice the federal minimum wage and gives a portion of its profits to charitable causes. —AS TOLD TO CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN

- Christine Lagorio-Chafkin

When Kraft’s plant shut down in South Edmeston in upstate New York in 2005, it was the latest of many closings. The feeling of its former employees there was “These large companies gave up on us.” It was like being in a cemetery. Here I show up with a little knowledge, and an accent that was a lot worse than what it is now. I try to tell the former employees: We can start something! I couldn’t promise security—or that the factory would really come back. It was me and five factory workers, and the odds were highly against us.

In two years, we were making yogurt. I wasn’t as confident as I am now, and I would get shaken up talking to 40 employees. In our third year—2010—I decided to hire another CEO, because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do this. One executive had run some big companies and had a nice suit and a spiffy ride, and he really wanted the job. We met in a diner, and the way he interacted with the waitress was so rude. This is what I grew up hating: people who think they’re better than everybody else. In that moment, I knew I wasn’t looking for a CEO.

For hiring, supplies, and even contractors, my number one law from the beginning was that we do not go outside of this community [the Chenango and Otsego counties region]. But as the company grew, the circle of our “community” broadened to the Utica area for hiring. Refugees have been settling in Utica for decades. Some are from Africa, some are from Asia, some from Eastern Europe. They want to work, and they have the right to work. There are obstacles: language, training, and transportation. We figured it out.