A Story of Leadership from Anatolia to the world: Who is Hamdi Ulukaya?
The story of Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani brand, one of the fastest growing food companies in the US in the last 10 years, represents an inspiring success story starting from Erzincan to a global leadership. Beyond being a business person, Ulukaya, which stands out with its social responsibility and human -oriented leadership approach, brings a new breath to the business world.
The understanding of leadership that focuses on people
Ulukaya, who was born in Erzincan in 1972 and passed a shepherd to the flocks of his childhood family, went to his business life as an immigrant in the United States, where he went to learn English in 1994. In 2005, in the north of New York, he acquired an old yogurt factory about to close, laid the foundations of Chobani, one of the world’s largest yogurt brands today. Ulukaya, who put the name of the brand of the brand as “Chobani” as a stance of respect for its roots and family heritage in Anatolia and the Turkish word ‘shepherd’ as “Chobani”, built its business life on a philosophy he described as “anti-ceo”. Hamdi Ulukaya, who believes that the main purpose of a company to serve all stakeholders, including employees, communities and society, distributed 10 %of Chobani company shares to its employees in line with this approach and made them a partner in success.
Business solution to the refugee crisis
Hamdi Ulukaya, who argued that the global refugee crisis should be under the responsibility of the business world, founded Tent Partnership for Refugees (TENT Foundation) in 2016 with this vision. The Foundation encourages more than 260 large companies around the world to provide jobs to refugees. The Tent Foundation has supported over 39,000 refugees to find a job. With these efforts, Hamdi Ulukaya was declared as an advocate of sustainable development purposes by the United Nations (UN).
Contributions to Türkiye
Ulukaya’s achievements in the United States never broke the ties with Türkiye. Hamdi Ulukaya, who signed many projects with the mission of giving back what he received from his country, donated 2 million dollars personally after the Kahramanmaraş -based earthquake disaster on February 6, 2023, and also pioneered the collection of over 100 million dollars with his call to the US business world through Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF). This campaign played a vital role in the support of urgent humanitarian aid to the region and supporting long -term reconstruction efforts.
On the other hand, with the Hamdi Ulukaya Initiative (HUG), which he launched in 2017, he continues to provide mentoring, training and network support to young entrepreneurs in Türkiye. Hamdi Ulukaya Initiative has provided entrepreneurship support in Türkiye and the United States to hundreds of young people from 63 different cities of Türkiye. Hamdi Ulukaya Initiative Startup Support Program 70 %of the participants opened abroad, 60 %of entrepreneur candidates founded their first companies and the participants received more than $ 17 million investment. In addition, the program made a difference in supporting women’s entrepreneurship with 54 %of the participants consisted of women entrepreneurs.
Hamdi Ulukaya is also working to develop commercial relations between the two countries as the President of the US-Türkiye Business Council. Under the leadership of Ulukaya, the Business Council pioneered the restart of the Türkiye-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) negotiations, which have been suspended for seven years. This platform, in which the views of the private sector are transmitted directly to governments, was an important step in solving key commercial and investment problems. Hamdi Ulukaya’s visionary leadership has enabled concrete steps to reach the target of a trade volume of $ 100 billion determined between the two countries. Thanks to business committees and strategic initiatives, new cooperation opportunities have been created in many sectors such as energy, digital economy, finance, aviation, health and agriculture. Hamdi Ulukaya, after the first successful period of the US Chamber of Commerce on the invitation, the US-Türkiye Business Council will continue to serve as president.
Chobani’s recent sponsorship to Fenerbahce Sports Club is a reflection of Hamdi Ulukaya’s commitment to Türkiye. Ulukaya indicating that the family is Fenerbahce, this sponsorship rather than a business strategy, “a gift from the heart for childhood love,” he says.
While Hamdi Ulukaya proves that a leadership model that brings to the food industry as well as the innovations it brings to the food industry, this story, which has become a leader from a Erzincan shepherd to a global leader, continues to be a source of inspiration for the whole world.