Albertsons began selling stock to public last year. Could this Idaho employer be next?
A food company with more than 40% of its workforce in Idaho is considering selling stock to the public.
Chobani, which operates the world’s largest yogurt factory in Twin Falls, is considering an initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said the IPO could value the company from as much as $7 billion to $10 billion.
The 16-year-old company was founded by Hamdi Ulukaya in South Edmeston, New York. Chobani opened its 1 million-square-foot plant in Twin Falls in 2012. Since then, it has tripled the number of Idaho employees. Chobani now employees 2,200 people overall, with 902 production and research and development workers in Idaho.
“As we create the food company of the future, we’ll look at all options carefully to fuel our ambitious plans, especially with oat milk and plant-based products,” Ulukaya said in a statement provided by the company. “An IPO is definitely one exciting direction, but whether or not we’re public, we’ll keep disrupting and making things better.”
Chobani has moved fast to expand its line beyond traditional yogurt. In the past two years, the company has introduced a coconut yogurt, coffee creamers and several oat-based products, including oat milk. Then there’s a kombucha-like probiotic drink and other dairy-based probiotic drinks and yogurts.
The latest product is coffee drinks marketed toward passionate coffee drinkers and produced in Twin Falls.
Chobani has considered an IPO and other deals before. The company rejected a 2016 offer from PepsiCo to buy a majority stake in the company.
Last summer, another large company with an Idaho presence began selling stock to the public. Boise-based Albertsons Companies, the nation’s second-largest grocery chain behind Kroger, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.
And Boise Cascade LLC offered stock to the public in 2013.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 3:59 PM.
CORRECTION: This story initially misstated the size of Chobani’s Twin Falls factory.
