When Greece makes the news in the US these days, it is usually for its soaring debt and ailing economy. Lately, Greece is making the news for another reason, its yogurt that flies off supermarket shelves. On July 14th, CNBC featured New York-based manufacturer of Greek yogurt Chobani that saw its sales soar, from nothing in 2007 to $500 million by 2011, leaving traditional yogurt makers like General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Kraft (NYSE:KFT) back in the dust.
But that was the second half of the story, as it doesn’t seem to know the first part: How Greek yogurt came to America, and became such a smashing success. But I do know the man who does know that part of the story. He is Kostas Mastoras owner and founder of Optima and Titan Foods in Astoria, Queens, in New York. Costas is the man who discovered FAGE, the first Greek company that mass-produced the centuries old strained yogurt, and brought it in America.
Last weekend, I did catch up with him and have him go over the story:
“In 1988, I did visit FAGE in Greece to purchase feta cheese for my store, when one of the company’s managers asked me whether I was also interested in strained yogurt, handling me a sample to try.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Forbes
