When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
eyes on the U.S.

A Yogurt Story, When Immigrant Dreams Feed American Capitalism

Chosing Chobani
Chosing Chobani
Massimo Gramellini

Twenty years ago, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Kurdish shepherd born in Turkey, grew tired of eating nothing but yogurt, so he came down from the mountains to seek his fortune in New York. For 10 years, he lived the hard life of an immigrant, and over time, came to miss the very yogurt he had once shunned. In America, yogurt had no flavor.

A stroke of luck came in 2005, in the form of a leaflet accidentally left in Ulukaya's mailbox: It was from a real estate agency that was selling a yogurt manufacturing site. It appeared that that destiny of a creamy sort was knocking on Ulukaya's door.

He took on a loan so he could buy the factory and spent two years recreating the flavors of his childhood. In the end, Chobani yogurt was born, its name a tribute to the Turkish word for "shepherd." Soon, Chobani strained yogurt became a fixture in refrigerators up and down the East Coast, making Ulukaya a billionaire and allowing him to hire some 2,000 employees, most of them chosen from a pool of immigrants without jobs, people with a background similar to his own.

The shepherd recently shared two pieces of news with his flock: First, that Chobani was about to be listed on the stock exchange; and second, that Ulukaya intended to give his employees 10% of the total shares.

Upon hearing this, some staffers wobbled on their feet, others fainted — but all of them suddenly found $200,000 in their pockets. Those who tried to thank Ulukaya for this unexpected gift were told that it wasn't a gift, but a mutual promise: From now on, they would work with a shared goal and sense of responsibility.

It took a Kurdish shepherd to give new purpose to capitalism. And it took New York to give new purpose to a Kurdish shepherd.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

70 Kilometers To Crimea: The Breakthrough That Could Shift The War In Ukraine

International support for Kyiv is waning and calls for negotiations are growing louder. But Ukraine has now managed to establish a bridgehead on the other side of the Dnipro River. From there, its troops could advance to Crimea — and turn the tide of the war.

A close-up side profile of a soldier with a river in the background and smoke rising above the tree line on the far bank

A photo posted on President Zelensky's X profile after Ukrainian troops reportedly established a bridgehead on the opposite side of the Dnipro River.

Alfred Hackensberger

-Analysis-

Lots of water, a few boats and soldiers. That's all you can see in the three photos that Volodymyr Zelensky published on the X (Twitter) platform last weekend.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest