Whole Foods dumps Chobani, makes room for Brown Cow non-GMO Greek yogurt

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By Ken Roseboro
Published: December 28, 2013
Category: Non-GMO Market News

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Whole Foods Market recently announced that it would stop selling Chobani Greek yogurt to make room for non-GMO alternatives, in particular Brown Cow Greek yogurt, which is Non-GMO Project verified.

In a statement, Whole Foods said it “challenged its Greek yogurt suppliers to create unique options for its shoppers to enjoy–including exclusive flavors, non-GMO options and organic choices. Chobani has chosen not to differentiate in this way, so Whole Foods Market will be phasing Chobani Greek yogurt out of its stores in early 2014 to make room for other product choices that aren’t readily available on the market.”

Chobani, the top seller of Greek yogurt in the US with sales of about $1 billion, played down the decision saying they had “limited distribution” with Whole Foods.

According to BuzzFeed Business, the big winner in Whole Foods’ decision is Stonyfield Farm, which recently started distributing its Brown Cow Greek yogurt line to Whole Foods. Brown Cow’s Greek yogurt products are Non-GMO Project verified.

GMO Inside, a campaign of national non-profit Green America, also praised Whole Foods’ move. “We applaud Whole Foods’ decision 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, twenty thousand consumers have taken action to urge Chobani to drop GMOs from its supply chain, and posted comments on Chobani’s Facebook page.”