Chobani, the US’ top selling Greek yogurt brand, plans to invest over $100 million (EUR72.7m) to build a state-of-the-art, high capacity production facility housed on 200 acres in Twin Falls, Idaho. “We visited numerous possible sites over the past several months and met a lot of great people along the way,” Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO and founder of Chobani says. “We chose Twin Falls due to its abundant milk supply, skilled labour force and tight knit local community.”

Expected to be operational in 2012, the opening of the new plant is expected to create around 400 new jobs. It is located approximately 2,300 miles west of the firm’s plants in New York state. “We anticipate Chobani’s planned investment to result in an additional $200 million in regional sales. Between construction activities, employment at the plant and the sourcing of local supplies like milk, there’s no question that the economic effect of Chobani’s new site will run deep throughout Southern Idaho, benefiting family farms as well as our dairy and construction industries.” Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter notes.

Chobani’s new Twin Falls site will not impact plans to move forward with its expansion for the company’s South Edmeston, NY manufacturing plant.