Ulukaya: Chobani Was One Night From Bankruptcy Before Lender Intervened
Hamdi Ulukaya · Chobani: Hamdi Ulukaya (2022) · Jul 14, 2025 · at 1:19:20
Hamdi Ulukaya discusses the 2013 cash crisis caused by operational losses at Chobani's Idaho plant and how the company narrowly avoided chapter 11.
0:00 / 0:24exact quote · 24.3s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“One night before, before we filed, the banker called and said, Hamdi, we hear that you're going to do this. It's going to make us look so bad. I think they were also acting, acting really out of ordinary at that time, forcing me to do something. And he says, well, why don't we give you So much money, and six months, as long as you promise you're going to do an event, that you're going to deliver yourself into certain things.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Hamdi Ulukaya
Ulukaya reveals Chobani was nearly forced into bankruptcy after Idaho recall
“You're about to File bankruptcy. Exactly. I've never talked about this anywhere before. It wasn't that damaging. But what it is, is the banks got really nervous, and they wanted their loan to be paid back. And that loan was used to build a factory supported by…”
Investors Demanded Near-Majority Equity and Ulukaya's Ouster During Chobani Crisis
“A time came, and I remember the gentleman called me, and he said, here's the amount that you will get, here is the, you know, percentage of the company that you have to give away, which is what was almost majority at that time, and you will be out of the compa…”
Ulukaya offered his factory as collateral to secure supermarket shelf space
“I personally said, if it doesn't sell, I will give you the factory.”
Chobani hired refugees and provided translators to overcome manufacturing labor shortages
“I called the refugee center, and I said, what is the problem? And she said these are people who have a right to work, legally settled, and they don't speak the language, they don't have, you know, transportation, or people don't want to touch it because it's a…”