After announcing last month a $500 million expansion in Twin Falls, Idaho, Chobani is continuing to scale up in a big way — this time back where it all began.
The company broke ground this week for a new $1.2 billion production facility in Rome, New York, marking a major investment in both the future of its business and the state’s dairy industry.
“New York is where Chobani’s journey began. It was the perfect spot to start Chobani 20 years ago, and it’s the perfect place to continue our story,” said Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya. “Working with dedicated dairy farmers and the resilient community, we built something truly special — something bigger than the food we make. We ignited a movement toward better food made with heart, passion, and only the highest-quality ingredients.”
Chobani’s newest plant will sit on 150 acres at the former Griffiss Air Force Base, an open space that the company plans to transform into a hub of food innovation. The 1.4 million-square-foot facility is expected to house up to 28 production lines, produce more than a billion pounds of dairy products per year and generate over 1,000 full-time jobs.
The facility is also expected to significantly ramp up Chobani’s milk usage, increasing demand from over 1 billion pounds annually to an estimated 6 billion pounds once the site reaches full capacity.
“With our new plant in Rome and our original home in South Edmeston, we’re entering a new dimension, partnering with hardworking people across the heartland of New York to build an ecosystem of natural food production and nourish families throughout the country,” Ulukaya said. “When you invest in people, in local communities, you’re not just building a business — you’re building a future.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul framed the announcement as both an economic and symbolic win for the state.
“Through this partnership with Chobani, we’re revitalizing upstate New York’s manufacturing sector one spoonful at a time,” Hochul said. “Chobani has been a major employer in the Mohawk Valley for decades, and this massive new $1.2 billion investment will bring more than 1,000 good-paying jobs to Oneida County — the largest natural food manufacturing investment in American history.”
The plant is also being welcomed by New York’s agricultural leaders, who see it as a full-circle moment for a company that started with local roots and grew into a national brand.
“This is tremendous news for our state and for our dairy farmers, who will be supplying milk to this state-of-the-art processing facility,” said New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball. “Chobani has long been a part of New York’s world-class dairy industry, and this feels like a real full-circle moment to welcome them to another region in our state.”
New York’s dairy industry is the largest sector in the state’s $8 billion agriculture economy. Home to nearly 3,000 dairy farms and producing 16.1 billion pounds of milk annually, New York is the nation’s fifth-largest dairy producing state. It also leads the country in the production of yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese.
“Dairy farmers are the beating heart of Upstate New York and this massive new facility and 1,000 new jobs will help support so many family farms across the state,” said U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer. “New York is proud that Chobani calls it home and more people will be enjoying their yogurt that comes from New York dairy farms made here in the Mohawk Valley than ever before.”
At this time, it is unclear as to when the New York plant will be in operation. However, construction work on the Twin Falls expansion has already commenced and is slated for completion within a year.
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