Chobani appoints Tim Brown as president and COO

Brown joins Chobani with more than 30 years of experience in the food business.

Norwich, N.Y., March 6, 2017 — Chobani LLC announced that Tim Brown has been appointed president and chief operating officer, reporting to Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, owner, CEO and chairman. Brown will oversee Chobani’s operations, sales, marketing, legal and finance teams as the company looks to further increase its category leadership while continuing to deliver on its founding mission of making better food for more people.

“Tim and I clicked the moment we met,” Ulukaya said. “He's an amazing leader with views and values I really respect and believe in. With his deep experience in consistently delivering quality growth, he's the perfect person to partner with me in continuing to lead the new wave of better food for more people. Chobani’s in a very strong position with greater potential than ever before and now with Tim joining we'll grab it.”

Brown added, "Joining a company like Chobani to partner with someone like Hamdi and this great team is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve been following Chobani for years as they have changed the food landscape in this country. I’m thrilled and honored to be coming aboard at a time of such momentum and incredible potential.”

Brown joins Chobani with more than 30 years of experience in the food business. Most recently for Nestle, he led the third-largest nonalcoholic beverage company by volume in the United States. Overseeing a portfolio of brands including Perrier, San Pellegrino and Poland Spring, he was responsible for $4.3 billion in annual net sales, supported by 8,500 employees, 29 plants and operations in more than 140 communities.

The company, which remains independently owned, has announced several product and production expansions this year. In May 2016, it announced a $100 million investment to its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho — the world’s largest yogurt manufacturing facility — to meet demand for new and existing products. On the heels of its Chobani Flip product success, the company also announced its expansion and investment beyond the yogurt aisle with Drink Chobani beverage. Chobani's market-share of the overall spoonable yogurt category is currently 19.8, which translates to 37.6 share of overall Greek Yogurt.*

Topline sales growth percentage is up double digits year-over-year versus year prior. The company currently receives up to 5.5-million pounds of fresh milk from local farms in New York and Idaho every day and employs more than 2,000 people.

*Nielsen's xAOC Scantrack database for the yogurt category, tracking most major channels for the four-week period ended January 28, 2017.

Chobani's recent performance

2016:

Chobani’s had significant quality growth in 2016
Record-setting share of overall yogurt
Double digit top line and profit growth and record EBITDA for the company
Doubled capital and marketing investment
Increased headcount, particularly in supply chain and leadership, in 2016
Dramatically increased distribution
Announced Chobani Shares, Paid Parental Leave and became a certified Great Place to Work
Launched two new platforms — Chobani Drinks and Chobani Meze Dips

2017:

Continuing double digit top line growth
Record production — more cases produced and shipped than any time in the company’s history
Surpassed Yoplait as #2 manufacturer in overall yogurt
Great reset in January with 18 new SKUs and significant increase in distrobution
6 of the top 10 new items (Nielsen)
Fast Company’s Most Innovative in the world (#9)

SOURCE: Chobani