BOISE, Idaho — To help those experiencing disaster or food insecurity near its Twin Falls manufacturing plant, Chobani created a shelf-stable milk product that can stay on the shelves for nine months.
The Idaho Foodbank has nearly 3,000 cases of Super Milk to distribute after the company officially launched the product at the foodbank's Meridian warehouse Tuesday.
Chobani, usually known for yogurt, developed the new product for donation only, which means it will not be available in grocery stores. Becca Dittrich, Vice President of Impact, said they plan on giving it to Idaho food banks and pantries.
"We listened to our partners who said, 'Hey, we need dairy within our networks, but the refrigeration of dairy is really complicated. And we responded,'" she said.
Dittrich said they came up with the idea after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit their CEO's home country, Turkey, last year. The earthquake killed thousands.
"In the aftermath, we started having discussions of the really deep desire to be able to meet community need in the event of a disaster like that, and the challenges of having a refrigerated product," she said.
Dittrich said Chobani scientists used ultra-high-temperature technology, which blasts the product with heat for a short time to kill bacteria.
The milk is made at the Twin Falls plant; Tuesday's donation was the first.
Randy Ford, Idaho Foodbank CEO, said the product "means the world" for people and organizations trying to fight food insecurity.
In 2022, more than 220,990 Idahoans in the Gem State experienced food insecurity, according to the nonprofit.
"[Food banks] don't have to have refrigerated transportation. They don't have capacity constraints on their coolers within their pantries. And it really allows for that access to be made across the state to all of our neighbors that are experiencing food insecurity," Ford said.
The product has 25% less sugar and 50% more protein than the average milk, Dittrich said. After it is opened and put in refrigerator, the milk needs to be consumed within two weeks.
She said Chobani will donate the milk in Idaho and New York, which is where the well-known company famous for yogurt was founded.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.