British Court Rules Chobani not Greek

Britain’s High Court decided that Chobani, a U.S. brand that started a Greek yogurt craze in America is not to continue calling itself Greek in the United Kingdom. Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish King of Greek yogurt, made a fortune selling the yogurt he calls Greek.

The yogurt war begun when Fage, the Greek owner of the Total Greek yogurt brand, sued Chobani in the UK for calling the yogurt Greek.

Fage, which was the first brand of Greek yogurt introduced to the American market back in 1998, nine years before Chobani, wants Chobani to stop labeling the yogurt it sells in the UK  Greek, because its made in the United States. According to Fage, only yogurt produced in Greece should be called Greek and yogurt made elsewhere should be described as Greek-style.

Britain’s High Court’s decision was negative for Ulukaya’s Agro Farm family company. What the court said in fact was that the indication “made in the U.S.” on the Chobani yogurt package is deliberately in small letters, and called the company to enlarge them. The judge also said that these tactics would make UK consumers falsely believe that Chobani is made in Greece.