FAGE, a Greek dairy company, has decided to invest in its New York plant in order to increase production in an attempt to balance the losses the company has suffered because of the economic crisis in Greece.
The company’s sales abroad are rising and as a result the production capacity of strained yogurt, the company’s key product, needed to increase too. FAGE aims to compete with rival companies, whose products cannot be compared to authentic Greek yogurt.
In fact, FAGE won a case in court, against the Kurdish owned Chobani which was selling a product under the name of Greek yogurt in the UK. The court ruled that if the product has not been produced in Greece and undergone the special straining process, then it cannot be classified as Greek yogurt.
Furthermore, the Greek dairy company sales have quadrupled increased in the last four years going from 16,600 tons in 2009 to 69,250 tons in 2013. Therefore, FAGE is planning on increasing it production capacity in New York from 85,000 tons to 160,000 tons, making an investment that is estimated to cost 100 million dollars.
The company is currently selling its products to 280 chain stores, in 40 countries around the world. In the U.S. its sales increased by 6.9% in 2013, in the UK by 5.2%, while in Italy a remarkable 51.5% increase was recorded.
However, sales in Greece are dropping as the company showed a decrease of 4.1% in sales in 2013 compared to the previous year, while the overall yogurt market in Greece is shrinking continually.
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