The Chobani food and beverage company is launching its first-ever shelf-stable low-fat dairy milk product that will be donated to people impacted by natural disasters or food insecurity. 

The idea originated after the deadly earthquake last year in Turkey, where Chobani’s founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya was born. He founded Chobani in 2005 after immigrating to the US.  It produces America’s No. 1 yogurt brand, oatmilk, and dairy and non-dairy creamers.

Chobani recently donated Super Milk to residents in New Mexico facing wildfires as one example of how the product can support people in need or facing a crisis. With storms, wildfires and hunger affecting tens of millions of people each year, the need will remain and potentially even increase. 

Dairy is one of the top five most requested food items among assistance networks due to its nutrient-dense, protein-rich properties, said Becca Dittrich, Chobani’s vice-president of impact. Still, dairy can be difficult to donate to a disaster area if power is out, or if a local food pantry is located most in a place where refrigeration capacity is limited.

“Shelf-stable dairy opens up an entire realm of possibilities,” Dittrich said. “We’ve created a product that will fill a need that is really hard to fill otherwise.”

Super Milk contains nutrition that is superior to traditional milk. It has 50% more protein, 25% less sugar and a quarter more calcium. The product also has prebiotic fiber for digestive health and is fortified with vitamins A & D. It will stay good for up to nine months, only needing to be refrigerated once it is opened.

“From everything we’ve seen, this is a really unique endeavor,” she said. “It is seeking to be a proof point of what business can do when it uses its knowledge, its expertise, its logistics, its access to certain equipment and resources, its skills and uses those things to disrupt a problem, whether that is industry or whether that be in a social environment.”

To develop, market and manufacture Super Milk required the dairy company to funnel resources that would have gone toward its revenue-generating products, she said.

Chobani will initially produce an average of 145,000 pounds of Super Milk each month. Super Milk will not be sold in stores. It is being manufactured as a donation to communities facing natural disasters or food insecurity and distributed nationally by the American Red Cross and distributed to local food banks and pantries in Central New York and Southern Idaho. The Idaho Foodbank was one of the first recipients of this product. 

Chobani manufactures its products in New York, Idaho, and Australia. Its products are available throughout North America and distributed in Australia and other select markets.

Chobani works to help eradicate child hunger, supporting immigrants and refugees and underrepresented people, honoring veterans, and protecting the planet. 

Sources: 

Chobani Makes Food a Force for Good, Launching Shelf-Stable Super Milk Exclusively for Those in Need PR Newswire, Jul 9 2024

Chobani Unveils ‘Super Milk’ for Disaster Relief and Food Insecurity DairyNews.today, Jul. 11 2024

Cover image: Idaho Food Bank