“What we can do is control internally how we operate our efficiency and effectiveness. One way to fight some of those costs is to grow and get bigger and get more economies of scale,” he said.
“We’re employing nearly 300 people on [our manufacturing] site. If we can get more volume through over our fixed costs, that makes every unit cost cheaper, and therefore we can keep our product affordable to consumers.”
2.3 million Australians eat Chobani every month, according to Roy Morgan data.
With a well-regarded brand and the consumption of yoghurt a daily habit for 11.4 million Australians, Chobani is well-positioned to navigate the environment. Internally, Hadley says he has inherited a business with a good culture where employees are happy to wear company merchandise.
But Chobani has had to raise prices in recent years, and some consumers are complaining about shrinkflation and less yoghurt in the tub. Cost of living pressures have seen customers opt for bigger multipacks and larger tubs, Hadley said.
Keeping prices low is front of mind for the new managing director, who is conscious that consumers will only pay so much for a tub of yoghurt before they decide to cut it out of their shopping baskets. “We want to be accessible to all consumers. We’re not looking to be the super premium yoghurt.”
Chobani, founded in 2005 in New York by billionaire and philanthropist Hamdi Ulukaya, has become the top-selling strained yoghurt brand in the US, with adjusted earnings of $487.4 million in the first nine months of 2023, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. It entered the Australian market in 2011 by buying Victorian dairy company Bead Foods, which produces Gippsland Dairy, a brand Chobani still operates.
Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya.Credit: Bloomberg
Ulukaya has been busy: in early 2023, Chobani acquired Philadelphia-based coffee roaster La Colombe and one month ago he bought a San Francisco craft beer brewing business. Ulukaya has held ambitions for an IPO for several years, which he told CNN he was “still really open” to.
In the local market, Chobani’s oat yoghurt range was quietly discontinued around February. The company said it was “delicious and nutritious, but unfortunately not one of our most popular”.
Chobani US in January launched a dessert range, Chobani Creations, which Hadley hinted could be landing on local shores. “There might be something coming up behind the scenes, more indulgent products,” he said.
However, fans of frozen yoghurt shouldn’t hold their breath. “We’re not set up to do that at the moment.”
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