• by Danielle Oster , July 18, 2024

Chobani -- the food and beverage brand best known for its Greek yogurt -- has introduced its first shelf-stable low-fat dairy milk, Chobani Super Milk, with a very specific audience in mind.

The new product was developed specifically for disaster relief efforts, and to aid local food bank and pantry partners in the areas where Chobani is headquartered, according to an announcement from the company.

Chobani explained the company embarked on the project in response to logistical challenges in connecting disaster survivors with nutrient-rich dairy products.

"We know food is essential, but it becomes an even greater need during natural disasters. What we did at Chobani was make a solution that could be deployed when and where it's needed. We call it Super Milk – high protein, high fiber, nutritious milk that is wholesome and shelf stable," Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya said in a statement.

The product can be stored without refrigeration for nine months until opened, and contains 13 grams of protein, 7 grams of prebiotic fiber, and 400 milligrams of calcium per serving (with about four servings per container), and is fortified with Vitamins A and D.

The company claims it will produce an average of 145,000 pounds of Chobani Super Milk monthly, which will be deployed nationally by the American Red Cross in areas responding to natural disasters, as well as to Chobani’s local nonprofit partners in central New York and southern Idaho.

According to data from the organization Feeding America on the respective areas: around,12% of people in Idaho's Twin Falls County, over 12% people in New York’s Otsego County, and over 13% in Chenango County face food insecurity.

Chobani Super Milk’s launch is also a timely one, arriving in the midst of  what the NOAA's National Weather Service has predicted will be a worse than average Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30.

American Red Cross president and CEO Cliff Holtz lauded Chobani for recently sending “a truckload of Super Milk to New Mexico in just a few days, helping power our relief efforts for those impacted by the wildfires.”

Chobani Super Milk is part of a longer-term focus on addressing food insecurity and food access issues for Chobani, which claims it has donated over 6.4 million pounds of food across the U.S. since 2022.