25 February, 2013

At Chobani, the Turkish King of Greek Yogurt - Businessweek

At Chobani, the Turkish King of Greek Yogurt - Businessweek: One day in 2004, as he was tidying up his office, he came across a postcard advertising a yogurt plant Kraft Foods (KRFT) was closing. He dropped the ad in the garbage, thought for a while, and fished it back out. The next day, Ulukaya drove to South Edmeston and visited the plant, an 84-year-old facility squatting in a valley between a hilltop graveyard and a biker bar. The walls were splotchy gray, and the equipment was old. Ulukaya wanted it anyway, and in August 2005, with the help of a U.S. Small Business Administration loan, he bought it for a sum he won’t disclose. His first employees were four ex-Kraft workers and Mustafa Dogan, a yogurt maker in Turkey Ulukaya knew by reputation. The first thing they did was paint the walls.