What Chobani’s CEO Just Admitted About Ingredient Changes

Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya isn't backing down from the company's long-standing commitment to cleaner labels and healthier products. 

However during a recent appearance at The Wall Street Journal's Global Food Forum, he warned that the growing push to eliminate certain ingredients from packaged foods—even with good intentions—could backfire. In fact, it could hurt the very consumers it's meant to help.

The movement, dubbed "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) and championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aims to eliminate additives like artificial dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, and other processed ingredients from food sold in the U.S. 

Business Insider reported that Ulukaya agrees in principle, having built Chobani's brand on the promise of simple ingredients. Still, he cautioned that such efforts could have unintended consequences.

"Everybody wants to eat good," Ulukaya said. "But I don't want to pay $3 for a cup of yogurt."

That's the dilemma. Reformulating products without common additives is often expensive—and not always well-received by consumers. 

Ulukaya gave the example of Chobani's oat milk, which recently underwent a two-year reformulation process to remove dipotassium phosphate, a compound that helped the milk foam better for baristas and coffee drinkers. Customers noticed and not necessarily in a good way.

"Yesterday, I got a consumer complaint," he said. "It said, 'My oat milk is not foaming as good as it used to.'"

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Even small changes—like swapping the type of vanilla used in yogurt—can draw backlash from loyal buyers. That tension, Ulukaya explained, creates a real challenge for food manufacturers trying to stay ahead of evolving standards without alienating their base or raising prices beyond reach.

"They don't want to take those risks," he said of other brands. "People get really, really pissed."

For Ulukaya, the path forward is about balance. He believes companies should continue to move toward cleaner ingredients, but they also need to make those products accessible and affordable. 

If not, he warns, a well-meaning movement could end up dividing the market and leaving many consumers behind.

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