After picking up my biweekly bottle of cold brew and vanilla coffee creamer, I love to grab a healthy assortment of my favorite snack—Chobani Flips. While Almond Coco Loco is my go-to flavor, this is not a tour of delectable yogurt varieties. Instead, this is a brief into Chobani’s company leadership and how its founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, flipped the script when he made refugee empowerment a central pillar in Chobani’s ethos and people-first character.
From hiring practices to global partnerships for refugee goals, Chobani pens a collective call to businesses worldwide and encourages organizations to take a stake in the economic integration and welfare of refugees everywhere.
Hiring Practices
As a Turkish Kurd migrant who moved to the U.S. at 22, Hamdi Ulukaya founded Chobani in 2007 when he purchased an old dairy plant in New York. In Chobani’s early days of scaling growth, Ulukaya heard about refugees living nearby in Utica, New York and encouraged them to work at Chobani—a move that also reflected Ulukaya’s commitment to support the local economy. Today, refugees and immigrants make up 30% of Chobani’s workforce with company operations also relying on local vendors (Lagorio-Chafkin, 2018). To support stable employment, Chobani offers factory employees living wages and robust benefit plans (including parental leave, English language education support, and subsidized child care packages during the height of the pandemic) (Ramirez, 2021). In an interview with Inc. Magazine, Ulukaya shared an important sentiment about his hiring philosophy and broad company culture. He states, “ If you want to build a company that truly welcomes people–including refugees–one thing you have to do is throw out this notion of "cheap labor." That's really awful. They're not a different group of people…They're each just another team member. Let people be themselves, and if you have a cultural environment that welcomes everyone for who they are, it just works” (Lagorio-Chafkin, 2018). Afterall, refugees are partners in creating business and community value.
Chobani also sources ingredients from producers that employ Venezuelan refugees as demonstrated by the UNSTUCK campaign.
Mobilizing Business Leadership
Among business executives, Hamdi Ulukaya became a leading voice championing for expanding employment opportunities for refugees and supporting economic integration programs. Frustrated by the demonization and politicization of refugee communities by political leaders, Ulukaya turned to the potential of business leadership to generate change. Thus, in 2016, Tent Partnership for Refugees was founded, mobilizing hundreds of businesses to connect refugees with jobs, training, and mentorship. From communities, families, suppliers, and brands, all are posed to benefit from the contributions of refugees and the impact stretches beyond one-time donations. This is a model for community strengthening. Just last month, Tent coordinated the “first large-scale hiring fairs for refugees in Bavaria,” an effort that connected 1,000 people to local opportunities with major businesses (Tent News, 2023). On Tent’s website, you can explore your favorite brands and read about their initiatives for refugee economic integration.
Tent announces 16 new corporate partners joining its Afghan Refugee Mentorship Program to stimulate training, apprenticeships, and job opportunities for 1,500 refugees over three years Press Release (16 March 2023).
Takeaways
A strong sensibility is rising among consumers, one that calls for more when it comes to company leadership, ethos, and action. Furthermore, society requires more from businesses to support the social fabric, economic growth, and welfare of local communities. A look into Chobani and Tent Partnership for Refugees underscores the power of the private sector and illuminates some guiding practices for how businesses can support refugees and their families.
Explore locally: Are there opportunities to support refugee communities and service providers in your local area?
Support stable employment through living wages and robust benefit plans
Stand for legislative change in partnership with local government
Invest (time, money, collaboration) in cross-sector partnerships to ensure practical and sustained action
Treat refugees as partners for goals and valuable team members, experts, artisans, and more
Works Cited
Chobani. (2022, July 28). Chobani to Host World Refugee Forum, An Urgent Discussion Addressing the Challenges Confronting 36 Million Refugees Around the World. Chobani News. Retrieved June 2023, from https://www.chobani.com/newsroom/our-news/chobani-to-host-world-refugee-forum-an-urgent-discussion-addressing-the.
Lagorio-Chafkin, C. (2018). This billion-dollar founder says hiring refugees isn’t a political act. Inc. Magazine. https://www.inc.com/magazine/201806/christine-lagorio/chobani-yogurt-hamdi-ulukaya-hiring-refugees.html
Ramirez, J. A. N. F. (2021). Assessing Shared Value Creation in Refugee-Inclusive Businesses (dissertation). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356508363_Assessing_Shared_Value_Creation_in_Refugee-Inclusive_Businesses.
Tent Partnership for Refugees. (2023, May 31). The Tent Partnership for Refugees, Budensagentur für Arbeit, and Jobcenter München Connect Around 1,000 Job Seekers to 21 Companies at First Job Fair for Refugees in Munich. Tent News. Retrieved from https://www.tent.org/tent-news/press-release-the-tent-partnership-for-refugees-job-fair-for-refugees-in-munich/.