Chobani CEO Honored As Disruptive Innovator At Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards

NEW BERLIN, N.Y., April 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Chobani President, Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya was recognized today at the fourth annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards as a catalyst for change in the packaged goods industry. Hamdi's steadfast focus to make high quality yogurt, made with only natural ingredients, affordable and accessible to everyone—combined with his entrepreneurial spirit and ability to catalyze a consumer-led movement—has grown Chobani into a $1 billion business in just five years.

Today, as the No. 1 selling Greek Yogurt brand in America, Chobani continues to transform the yogurt aisle, with recent product innovations that take yogurt beyond breakfast and fun formats of authentic strained Greek Yogurt made for kids.

"Innovation isn't all about technology. At its core, innovation is about change—being bold enough to challenge the simplest idea and looking for ways to do it better," said Ulukaya. "Together, this group of honorees represents that change, and I'm honored to share in this celebration of innovating and disrupting."

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), in association with the Disruptor Foundation and Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen, father of Disruptive Innovation Theory, honored innovators, pioneers and game-changers across various disciplines and domains at the fourth annual awards ceremony, hosted by NYU Stern School of Business. The ceremony showcased the applications of and advancements in disruptive innovation theory that have spread far beyond the original technological and industrial realms.

Additional award winners include Twyla Tharp, Choreographer, Author and Founder of Twyla Tharp Dance; City of Manchester, Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive; THINX; Jack Andraka; I F*cking Love Science/Science is Awesome Creator, Elise Andrew – Henry IV Prize, presented by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center; Glenn Beck, Founder and Owner, TheBlaze; Nicolas Berggruen, Think Long Committee for California, The Berggruen Institute on Governance and Author: Intelligent Governance for the 21^st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East; Garrett Camp, Founder, StumbleUpon and Uber; GE FOCUS FORWARD, Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of GE and Morgan Spurlock, Co-Founder of cinelan; Forbes Magazine; Ken Goldberg and Ayorkor Korsah, Co-Founders, The African Robotics Network (AFRON) ; Henry Jackson Initiative; Norma Kamali, Designer and Wellness Advocate; Kenzo Digital, Director/Artist; Deborah Kenny, Chief Executive Officer, Harlem Village Academies; Beau Lotto, Founder, Lottolab Studio; STEM to STEAM, John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design; Urban Dictionary Creator, Aaron Peckham; Psy, South Korean Artist/Global Phenomenon; and Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and Founder, Define American.

Visit www.chobani.com or www.tribecadisruptiveinnovationawards.com for more information.

About Chobani
Maker of America's No. 1 selling Greek Yogurt brand, authentic strained Chobani Greek Yogurt, Chobani was founded on the belief that people have great taste, they just need great options. That is why Chobani produces only the highest quality, best tasting products made with only natural ingredients out of its New Berlin, N.Y. plant and its new one million square-foot production facility in Twin Falls, Idaho. As part of Chobani's nothing but good philosophy, it is committed to supporting local farmers and strengthening its surrounding area economies. Chobani uses milk from local-area farms and gives 10 percent of its annual profits to charities worldwide through the Shepherd's Gift Foundation, the company's charitable arm. All Chobani products are Kosher certified, made with milk from cows not treated with rBST, contain five live and active cultures and offer two times more protein per serving than regular yogurt. Chobani products are available nationwide, and in Australia and the UK. Chobani is pleased to offer consumers a variety of nothing but good products, including Chobani Greek Yogurt 6 oz, 16 oz and 32 oz; Chobani Bite; Chobani Flip; and Chobani Champions. For more information, please visit chobani.com or connect with Chobani on Facebook at facebook.com/chobani.

About the Disruptor Foundation
The Disruptor Foundation is an independent 501(C)3 non-profit private foundation co-founded by Craig Hatkoff and Professor Clayton Christensen, who also serves as Senior Advisor. The Foundation's mission is to raise public, social, academic, educational and philanthropic awareness of existing, as well as future developments in, Disruptive Innovation Theory, originated by Professor Christensen. It will seek to broaden the theory and applications of disruptive as well as other forms of innovations into non-traditional domains and areas. The Foundation will organize, plan and sponsor conferences, events, seminars, awards, prizes, publications, digital and electronic resources for analysis, study, research and application using Disruptive Innovation to effect societal change. The Foundation will encourage cross-disciplinary interaction and serve as a convener of traditional and non-traditional thinkers, entrepreneurs, educators, funders and innovation activists.

About the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music and culture, the Festival brings the industry and community together around storytelling.

The Tribeca Film Festival has screened more than 1,400 films from more than 80 countries since its first edition in 2002. Since inception, it has attracted an international audience of more than 4.0 million attendees and has generated an estimated $750 million in economic activity for New York City.

SOURCE Chobani