Chobani fat free, fruit-on-the-bottom, Greek yogurt is HG’s favorite breakfast food. (HG/BSK choose Fage plain Greek yogurt for middle east and Indian cooking). HG enhances a Chobani breakfast container with honey, jam or maple syrup (HG likes a sweet beginning of the day) plus walnuts or pecans. Consumed with a few cups of coffee, this deliciousness offsets the grim news that usually comes forth from HG’s computer. There’s a political aspect to HG’s affection for Chobani. That’s because the product exemplifies the stupidity of Der Trumperer’s immigration policy. Chobani, with more than $2 billion in sales in 2016, was founded by a Turkish immigrant, Hamedi Ulukaya. With a loan from the Small Business Administration in 2005, Ulukaya and a small team of enthusiasts set about creating a yogurt that tasted like the stuff they grew up with in Turkey. The product went on supermarket shelves in 2007 (it was “Greek” yogurt because that thicker yogurt name was already installed in the minds of consumers). An instant hit. Along with its spectacular growth, Chobani has instituted progressive labor policies. Employees get fully paid six week parental leave and can participate in company ownership through a Chobani Shares program. Yes, Der Trumperer, that is what a Turkish immigrant from a 90% Muslim country has accomplished in slightly more than a dozen years. And, he’s created some 3,000 jobs.
