Chobani

“I have nothing against America first, but ‘humanity first too,’” said Ulukaya in an exclusive interview with CNN on the sidelines of an event for his nonprofit, called Tent Partnership for Refugees.

Over the last several years, Ulukaya has been making a passionate pitch to assist refugees through Tent, Ulukaya’s nonprofit dedicated to helping improve the lives of refugees. He argues that resources, especially from corporate America, should grow to match a historic migration crisis that has displaced over 65 million people worldwide, including 25 million refugees.

In the early days of Chobani—I’m talking about 2008, 2009—I learned there were people who came and settled as refugees in Utica, [N.Y.], where I used to live, and they were having a hard time finding work. I said, “Okay, let’s start. I will get some training in the plants and get some translators.” This shouldn’t be so hard. For me these were not refugees working, they were people in the community. I’m hiring and I don’t want to separate out this population. People started creating this amazing environment in the plant. They started having interactions. This was a beautiful thing to see. They were refugees who left everything behind, lost a lot and came to a new community. But they hadn’t found their new life yet. And then, if you ask me, the minute they get the job, that’s the minute they stop being a refugee. That’s the minute they start living their life, providing for their family. You look at it as, “Well, it’s good for them.” But what it does to the society, community, and especially to the company is mind-blowing.

The yogurt company updated its healthcare policy for employees in May, following the leak of the draft opinion on Roe, to cover transportation and lodging expenses for any employee or dependent (as well as one caregiver) who needs to travel to receive specialized healthcare, including abortions. The policy also includes reimbursement for childcare costs incurred from the travel, according to a memo Chobani COO Kevin Burns sent to employees in May, which was shared with CNN.

TWIN FALLS — Yogurt company Chobani, which operates a 1 million-square-foot plant in Twin Falls, will now cover costs for employees who need to travel out of state or more than 100 miles to receive an abortion, transplant surgery, cancer treatment, or other specialized health care.

“Businesses have an obligation to prioritize their employees’ health, safety & well-being,” CEO and Founder of Chobani Hamdi Ulukaya posted on Twitter. “That’s why Chobani amended its health plans to support our employees’ ability to access specialized healthcare not available locally – including women’s reproductive health services.”

In the days that followed the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant and CEO of Chobani, donated $2 million of his own money to help recovery efforts, then got on the phone with fellow chief executives, U.S. government officials, and the president of the World Bank, urging them to help.

It’s not just talk. In recent years, as Chobani has expanded with new products like oat milk and cold-brew coffee, Ulukaya has granted his more than 2,000 employees shares worth up to 10% of the company’s value, while also donating millions of products to fight food insecurity in the U.S.

The yogurt maker Chobani is working with Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit group in Oakland, Calif., on creating a label that would signal that the milk in its products came from farms that treated their workers and cows humanely.

According to Chobani, the collaboration with Fair Trade USA detailed below was meant to create comprehensive standards for ensuring sound labor, environmental and animal welfare conditions on dairy farms.

…In response to their request for a public commitment in support of dairy workers’ right to organize…the company has demurred, according to labor advocates.

Ulukaya has infused a similar spirit of generosity into Chobani. As founder and chief executive of America’s top-selling yogurt brand, he explained to potential Wall Street investors in a 2021 IPO filing that his 18-year-old company “operates on a simple fundamental principle, that we do well by doing good.” Ulukaya made waves in 2019, when he delivered a TED Talk called “The Anti-CEO Playbook.” As part of the presentation, he said the notion that businesses exist to maximize profits for shareholders was the dumbest idea he’d ever heard.

The last time Chobani faced a boycott was in 2016, when far-right and anti-immigrant groups targeted the company for employing refugees. Ulukaya has been a vocal supporter of hiring refugees and pledged to give away the majority of his fortune to help refugees, according to The New York Times.

Ulukaya started recruiting immigrants and refugees to work at Chobani in 2010 – a strategy that drew vicious attacks from far right-wing conspiracy theorists who have spread lies about the company, including allegations Chobani embarked on a secret plot to increase America’s Islamic population.

Chobani Chief Executive Hamdi Ulukaya said that the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement poses risks to the food supply chain.

La Colombe and its parent company Chobani on Monday, Feb. 23, announced a $250,000 grant for Creating Healthy Schools Muskegon County to prepare more fresh, healthy meals for students and to build a stronger local food workforce.

President Trump's travel ban hit the founder of the Chobani yogurt company close to home. "As an immigrant who came to this country looking for opportunity, it's very difficult to think about … what millions of people around the world must be feeling…America has always been a symbol of hope, tolerance and diversity…these are values we must work very hard to uphold"...Ulukaya, 44, a Kurd from Turkey, started his company…in 2007. At the time, he had just five employees. Now, the New York-based yogurt maker employs more than 2,000 people in his two factories, and makes more than $1 billion in revenue annually. Ulukaya promised to help those employees impacted by the executive order. "I've directed our Legal and HR teams to explore whether any member of our company or their family members are affected and provide whatever assistance they need." The travel ban has inspired an outpouring of support for refugees from American companies and executives [including Ford and Apple].

Chobani is facing a boycott after announcing a partnership with Planet Harvest, a company co-founded by Ivanka Trump.

On Sept. 12, Chobani announced a partnership with Planet Harvest, a company founded by Ivanka Trump and Melissa Ackerman in 2023. Planet Harvest helps farmers sell crops that don't meet the aesthetic qualifications to be sold in grocery stores because they're too small or misshapen. The Chicago-based company connects this produce to food companies, reducing the amount of food wasted in the fields.

Chobani, which is both headquartered and operates a manufacturing facility in Chenango County, New York in the state's Southern Tier — announced a collaboration with Planet Harvest, a company founded by Ivanka Trump and Melissa Ackerman in 2023, in a CNBC interview with Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya on Sept. 12.

Chobani is facing a boycott after announcing a partnership with Planet Harvest, a company co-founded by Ivanka Trump.

The Chobani Scholars Program was created to support students pursuing studies in agriculture, including food and animal science. Since its inception in 2019, the program has selected undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from New York as Chobani scholars, each receiving a $20,000 scholarship.

“NEW BERLIN, NY, January 19, 2022 – Today Chobani announced an expansion of its Scholars Program, adding a pledge of $1 million dollars and a focus on supporting historically underserved students who wish to pursue a broad set of agricultural interests. The program has helped dozens of university students pursue their ambitions in the dairy industry. That mission now includes creating a more equitable future in agriculture.

29 CFR 1910.119(n): The emergency action plan did not contain procedures for handling small releases. (a) Refrigeration Building: On or about January 8, 2018 and at times prior, employees are to respond to incidental releases of ammonia and the emergency action plan does not have specific procedures for handling releases, including instructing employees how to distinguish between small and large spills. Note: Abatement certification is required for this item.

By Hailey Konnath ( July 27, 2026, 11:52 PM EDT) -- The Seventh Circuit Monday resurrected a proposed class action claiming Chobani misled customers by labeling its yogurt as "sugar free," ruling that the naturally occurring sweetener in the yogurt constitutes a sugar under federal regulation and thus the customers have plausibly alleged consumer deception. . . .

An Illinois couple sued Chobani in 2023 after realizing their so-called zero-sugar yogurt contained four grams of allulose, a naturally occurring sugar in foods like raisins and maple syrup.