Chobani Is Building Its Future

In April 2025, Chobani bested the investment in Twin Falls by announcing plans for a $1.2 billion dairy processing plant in Rome, N.Y. Construction on that project did not kick off right away, however, and in August 2026, the company offered an update that there had been delays, but the Rome plant remained a big part of the near future.

Chobani chief impact officer Nishant Roy explained at the time that the dairy processor had to shift its priorities, investing more in its existing sites in order to get product to market faster and take advantage of growing demand for its products. Roy clarified to local media, however: “We are also not abandoning our commitment to Rome. We’re coming.”

The Rome facility will stand some 50 miles north of South Edmeston, N.Y., where Ulukaya founded Chobani. “Rome is a different kind of milestone for us, because it’s home,” Roy says. “New York [state] is where Chobani started, and Rome represents the next chapter of our story in the state.”

That next chapter will be driven by 1.4 million sq. ft. of production space, which is expected to be able to manufacture more than 1 billion pounds of products. However, Roy says the Rome project isn’t a “one and done” plan.

“We’ll build the Rome campus in phases, allowing us to thoughtfully grow alongside the business,” he says. “Rather than constructing the entire site at once, we’ll establish the foundation first, bring new capacity online as it’s needed and continue expanding as demand grows.”

Roy adds that the company anticipates that the three-phase construction project will begin sometime between the spring of 2027 and the summer of 2028.

The company’s capital investment record hasn’t been limited to the Chobani-branded business. Chobani announced in March of this year it would embark upon a multi-phase, $567 million expansion of its La Colombe plant in Norton Shores, Mich., adding more than 200,000 sq. ft. Chobani acquired the maker of coffee and coffee-based beverages in 2023, and said it was expanding the plant in response to surging demand for La Colombe’s ready-to-drink lattes.

Getting back to record-setting capital expense for the Chobani brand itself, the dairy processor made its most recent big capital splash in September, when it announced it would acquire a five-year-old Keurig Dr Pepper plant in Allentown, Pa., and invest $1.2 billion to expand and convert it into a dairy processing plant. It’s another mammoth financial commitment to expanding its production capacity, and the company calls it “another major step forward.”

“[Allentown] will help us build on two decades of dairy expertise and unlock new ways to make even more from farm-fresh milk — including products with higher protein and less sugar than traditional milk,” the company explains. The 1.5-million-sq.-ft. facility is expected to produce a variety of products for Chobani when production begins — anticipated to be in 2027, according to the company.

“The facility will also serve as a launchpad for a new generation of dairy products, including high-protein shakes made with natural ingredients,” the company says. “When fully built out, Allentown is expected to give us the scale and flexibility to grow these new platforms, bring innovations to market more quickly, and give consumers even more high-quality food and beverage choices.”