COLUMBUS – Yesterday was a day of celebration for Agro Farma, as the Chenango County-based producer of Chobani brand Greek-style yogurt marked the beginning of the next chapter of the company’s growth with a ground breaking ceremony at the site of its new refrigerated warehouse

“This is an exciting day for us,” said Agro Farma’s founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, as he greeted local dignitaries, business leaders and community members who were on hand for the event. Congressman Mike Arcuri, Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Cliff Crouch were among those in attendance.

Ulukaya called construction of the 150,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse, which will serve as the company’s national distribution hub, a “milestone” for the five-year-old company.

The Turkish-born businessman acquired the former Kraft facility in 2005, and started the venture with just five employees. When the Chobani brand was launched in 2007, the plant was producing only a couple of hundred cases a week. Today, the company churns out 500,000 cases per week and is the number one selling brand of yogurt in the Northeast, according to Ulukaya.

“This is only a start of where we can go,” he said.

According to Ulukaya, the expansion project will mark a $100 million investment in Chenango County over the next two years. Once the warehouse is completed, and upgrades to the existing production facility are completed, Agro Farma’s production capacity will increase to approximately 2 million cups of yogurt per day, or 1.4 million cases per week, he reported.

It will take both a larger workforce and more milk to produce the greater volume of yogurt, according to Ulukaya, who said 100 new jobs will created within the next year. By the end of the year, they will require 25 million pounds of milk a week - more than 3.5 million pounds, or 55 tanker-loads, per day for the seven-day a week operation.

“How fast can you get (more) cows?” he asked with a laugh, addressing those in attendance with connections to the dairy industry.

According to Ulukaya, it is the men and women of Agro Farma who have made the company what it is today.