Ah, Greek yogurt. There’s nothing more delicious than a little cup of fruit-flavored, fermented milk. Think back — what did you even eat before 2007? You probably can’t remember, and it doesn’t matter. After the rise of Greek yogurt, nothing was the same.
Walk down the dairy aisle of any grocery store, and it’s hard to miss the rows of brightly colored little cups. Beyond Greek yogurt, there are probiotic varieties, ones with candy on top and liquefied “drinkable yogurt.” Healthier chains even offer yogurt made from sheep’s milk.
But ask your parents how many types of yogurt they ate while growing up, and you might be surprised. The yogurt trend is relatively recent in the U.S., and yogurt gained much of its popularity within the past decade.
Dannon Co. introduced yogurt to the masses during the mid-20th century, but there were hardly many varieties until yogurt boomed again in the 2000s. Yogurt became the latest food trend, and companies began to experiment with everything from nutrition to packaging.
Before Greek yogurt was a breakfast necessity, companies tried out other versions. Go-gurt. Dannon Drinkables. Dannon introduced Activia probiotic yogurt in 2006, claiming it would help reduce digestive issues. In 2009, Dylan and Cole Sprouse (or Zack and Cody, respectively) of Disney fame starred in an ad for Danimals Crush Cups. Apparently, spoons were out that year, and it was more attractive to squeeze yogurt up into your mouth. Needless to say, the trend was short-lived.
And now — cue angel choir — the invention of Greek yogurt.
Chobani was the first company to own the market when Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkey native, bought a closed yogurt factory in 2005. The product quickly took off, and by 2009 it was in major chains such as Costco Wholesale and ShopRite. Dannon and Yoplait, which had controlled the U.S. yogurt market for decades, scrambled to develop spin-offs of the strained delicacy.
And the trend just keeps growing. Chobani introduced Greek yogurt with oats this past year — a product that is entirely unnecessary and frankly quite disgusting in both texture and appearance. However, it does boast 10 grams of protein and an equal amount of whole grains.
With yogurt, we can have our cake and eat it … in liquid form. There are whole lines of sickeningly sweet creations including lemon meringue and cafe mocha. And if just the flavor of dessert wasn’t enough, Dannon’s Oikos introduced chocolate on top and caramel on top for more ooey goodness. Chobani Flips have a topping on one side you can dump into creatively named yogurts such as Nutty for ‘Nana and Chocolate Haze Craze.
The rise of Greek yogurt is rather remarkable — from hardly heard-of to the newest fad food in just a few years. The demand has spurred bizarre flavors (like green tea and grape) and interesting partnerships (Oikos Triple Zero is the official yogurt of the NFL).
Yogurt is thought to have originated in Central Asia during the Neolithic Era, so the U.S. is a little late to the party. But, in true American style, we’ve embraced it with enough fervor so that you wouldn’t even know it wasn’t our invention.
