Why Whole Foods is Dropping Chobani
According to this article in the The Wall Street Journal, the nation's biggest high-end grocery chain and the hottest Greek yogurt brand are parting ways.
Whole Foods Market Inc. will reportedly stop selling Chobani yogurt by early 2014 to make room for more organic and GMO-free brands, according to people familiar with the matter.
Whole Foods has stated its intentions to remove all food containing genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs, among their ingredients without disclosing the fact on labels by 2018.
Chobani markets its Greek yogurt as containing only natural ingredients, but it has received complaints from consumer advocacy groups for its use of milk that comes from dairy cows fed with GMO animal feed.
For example, GMO Inside, a campaign of national non-profit Green America, issued the following statement:
“We applaud Whole Foods’ decision today to drop Chobani yogurts from its shelves. GMO Inside first sounded the alarm about the presence of GMO feed in the milk found in Chobani products in summer 2013. Since then, 20,000 consumers have taken action to urge Chobani to drop GMOs from its supply chain, and posted comments on Chobani’s Facebook page."
Whole Foods plans to fill the shelf space vacated by Chobani with more niche, organic and GMO-free yogurts, said a person familiar with Whole Foods' strategy. The person said the yogurt section has grown increasingly crowded, so Whole Foods wants to trade out brands that are widely sold in other stores for more exclusive ones.
For now, Whole Foods will continue to carry Fage, a major Chobani rival, which is not GMO-free either, according to WSJ.
Chobani, the leader of the Greek yogurt craze in the U.S., said it still hopes to renew its partnership with Whole Foods in the future. The company, based in New Berlin, N.Y., started making yogurt in 2007 and has grown to about $1 billion in annual retail sales. Greek yogurt now makes up about one-third of the yogurt on shelves a typical grocery store.
To read this article in its entirety, click here.
Whole Foods Market Inc. will reportedly stop selling Chobani yogurt by early 2014 to make room for more organic and GMO-free brands, according to people familiar with the matter.
Whole Foods has stated its intentions to remove all food containing genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs, among their ingredients without disclosing the fact on labels by 2018.
Chobani markets its Greek yogurt as containing only natural ingredients, but it has received complaints from consumer advocacy groups for its use of milk that comes from dairy cows fed with GMO animal feed.
For example, GMO Inside, a campaign of national non-profit Green America, issued the following statement:
“We applaud Whole Foods’ decision today to drop Chobani yogurts from its shelves. GMO Inside first sounded the alarm about the presence of GMO feed in the milk found in Chobani products in summer 2013. Since then, 20,000 consumers have taken action to urge Chobani to drop GMOs from its supply chain, and posted comments on Chobani’s Facebook page."
Whole Foods plans to fill the shelf space vacated by Chobani with more niche, organic and GMO-free yogurts, said a person familiar with Whole Foods' strategy. The person said the yogurt section has grown increasingly crowded, so Whole Foods wants to trade out brands that are widely sold in other stores for more exclusive ones.
For now, Whole Foods will continue to carry Fage, a major Chobani rival, which is not GMO-free either, according to WSJ.
Chobani, the leader of the Greek yogurt craze in the U.S., said it still hopes to renew its partnership with Whole Foods in the future. The company, based in New Berlin, N.Y., started making yogurt in 2007 and has grown to about $1 billion in annual retail sales. Greek yogurt now makes up about one-third of the yogurt on shelves a typical grocery store.
To read this article in its entirety, click here.