Who Owns the Yogurt Market

Yogurt is a category where a single European company -- Danone -- has historically dominated globally, yet the United States tells a different story. A Greek-style insurgence led by Chobani, launched in 2007 by Hamdi Ulukaya, reshaped the US market, knocking Danone's Dannon and General Mills' Yoplait from their traditional leadership positions.

Today the US yogurt market is a genuine competitive battleground. Globally, Danone remains the clear leader. This post maps who owns which yogurt brand, how the market shifted, and what the independent versus conglomerate balance looks like in 2026. For a related look at dairy-adjacent beverages, see our post on who owns the juice market.

Danone: The Global Yogurt Leader

Danone (EPA: BN) is the world's largest yogurt company by revenue and volume. Danone's dairy and plant-based division is its largest business segment, and yogurt sits at the heart of the company's history and strategy. Danone was founded in Barcelona, Spain in 1919 by Isaac Carasso, who named the company after his son Daniel (Danone is the diminutive of Daniel in Catalan). The company initially sold its yogurt through pharmacies as a health product.

[Activia](/brands/activia) is Danone's functional yogurt brand, claiming gut health benefits through its proprietary Bifidus ActiRegularis culture. Activia is a global leader in functional dairy, sold in approximately 70 countries. Its "help your gut" positioning, supported by advertising featuring Jamie Lee Curtis in the United States, made it one of the most recognized yogurt brands globally. Activia has faced regulatory scrutiny in several markets over its health claims, leading to modified labeling and advertising.

[Oikos](/brands/oikos) is Danone's Greek yogurt brand, competing directly with Chobani. Oikos is available in standard and Oikos Pro (high protein) variants and is one of the top-selling Greek yogurt brands in the United States.

[Dannon](/brands/dannon) is the US commercial name for the Danone brand, used because "Danone" was already trademarked in the United States by a separate company when Danone entered the US market. Dannon covers mainstream stirred and set-style yogurts as well as the Danimals line for children.

[Actimel / DanActive](/brands/actimel) is Danone's probiotic drinking yogurt, sold as Actimel in Europe and as DanActive in North America. It is one of the best-selling probiotic dairy drinks globally.

[Light & Fit](/brands/light-and-fit) is Danone's lower-calorie yogurt line in the United States, competing in the diet-positioned dairy segment.

[Stonyfield](/brands/stonyfield) is Danone's organic yogurt brand in the United States, acquired in 2001 and operated with considerable independence as a certified B Corp. Stonyfield uses only organic milk and positions around environmental sustainability. Danone explored selling Stonyfield multiple times, including in 2017 when antitrust conditions associated with WhiteWave Foods required Danone to divest it. Lactalis Group acquired Stonyfield from Danone in 2017 for approximately $875 million, so Stonyfield is now independent of Danone under Lactalis ownership.

[Volvic](/brands/volvic) and other adjacent Danone products are not yogurt but share distribution channels.

Danone's plant-based dairy includes the Silk, So Delicious, and Alpro brands (acquired through the $12.5 billion WhiteWave Foods acquisition in 2017), which include dairy-free yogurt alternatives made from almond, coconut, oat, and soy milk.

General Mills: Yoplait

[Yoplait](/brands/yoplait) is General Mills' flagship yogurt brand in the United States, licensed from Sodilait (a French cooperative) since 1977. Yoplait was the dominant US yogurt brand for decades before the Greek yogurt revolution beginning in the late 2000s. The rise of Chobani from 2007 onwards significantly eroded Yoplait's market share; Yoplait's US revenues declined substantially between 2010 and 2016 as consumers shifted to higher-protein Greek-style yogurt.

General Mills responded by launching Yoplait Greek and Yoplait Oui (a French-style set yogurt in glass jars), but neither fully offset the market share loss to Chobani and Fage. Yoplait remains a major brand by volume but has structurally lost its leadership position.

General Mills also owns Liberté, a Canadian premium yogurt brand acquired in 2010, and markets it in select US markets as a premium European-style alternative.

The original Yoplait brand is owned by the French cooperative SODIAAL, which licenses it globally. In the US, General Mills holds the license. Yoplait is sold in more than 50 countries through various licensees and direct operations.

Chobani: The Independent Challenger

[Chobani](/brands/chobani) is the most important independent company in the US yogurt market and one of the most successful consumer packaged goods startups in recent history. Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish-Kurdish immigrant, founded Chobani in 2005 after purchasing a defunct Kraft dairy plant in South Edmeston, New York, for approximately $700,000. Chobani launched in 2007 with a Greek-style strained yogurt that had higher protein content and thicker texture than conventional US yogurts.

Chobani grew from essentially zero to approximately $1 billion in sales by 2012, one of the fastest brand ramp-ups in US food history. By 2013, Chobani was the best-selling yogurt brand in the United States by dollar sales, displacing Yoplait after decades of its dominance.

Chobani remains private as of early 2026. The company explored an IPO filing in 2021 that was withdrawn. Ulukaya remains majority owner. The company has no private equity ownership and has declined multiple acquisition approaches. Chobani has expanded into oat milk, coffee creamers, and drinkable yogurt while maintaining its Greek yogurt core business.

Chobani generates approximately $2 billion in estimated annual revenue and employs approximately 2,000 people at its New York and Idaho facilities, where it remains one of the largest employers in rural upstate New York.

Fage: Independent Greek Heritage

[Fage](/brands/fage) is a Greek dairy company founded in Athens in 1926 that pioneered strained Greek yogurt in Greece and brought it to the United States in 1998, predating the broader Greek yogurt category boom. Fage Total remains one of the most respected Greek yogurt brands among health-conscious consumers due to its short ingredient list and authentic Greek straining process.

Fage moved its headquarters to Luxembourg in 2012 for tax and operational reasons and operates its primary US manufacturing from a Johnstown, New York facility. The company remains privately held by the Filippou family.

Siggi's: Acquired by Lactalis

[Siggi's](/brands/siggis) is an Icelandic-style skyr brand founded in New York City in 2006 by Siggi Hilmarsson, inspired by the Icelandic dairy tradition of skyr, a strained fermented dairy product similar to thick Greek yogurt but with distinct properties. Siggi's is known for its lower sugar content relative to Greek yogurt competitors.

Siggi's was acquired by Lactalis Group in 2018. Lactalis, the French private dairy giant, also owns Stonyfield (acquired from Danone in 2017). Lactalis is entirely private, owned by the Besnier family of France, and is one of the world's largest dairy companies with revenues exceeding $28 billion.

Noosa Yoghurt: Independent / Sovos Brands

Noosa is an Australian-inspired yoghurt brand (using the Australian spelling) founded in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2010. Noosa uses full-fat, honey-sweetened yoghurt in large tub packaging. The brand was acquired by Sovos Brands in 2017. Sovos Brands was itself acquired by Campbell Soup Company in 2023 for approximately $2.7 billion, adding Noosa to the Campbell portfolio alongside Rao's pasta sauce and Pacific Foods.

Icelandic Provisions and Other Challengers

Icelandic Provisions is a skyr brand co-founded as a joint venture between Skyr.is (an Icelandic dairy cooperative) and a US food company. It competes directly with Siggi's in the skyr segment and emphasizes authentic Icelandic sourcing.

Two Good (Danone) is a low-sugar yogurt brand that Danone developed to respond to the sugar-reduction trend. It uses a filtration process to remove most natural sugars from the milk base.

Kite Hill is a plant-based yogurt brand focused on almond milk-based alternatives, competing in the dairy-free yogurt space.

Market Share Overview (US)

The Greek Yogurt Revolution

The emergence of Greek yogurt in the United States is one of the most studied category disruptions in recent food history. Prior to 2007, US yogurt was dominated by loose, heavily sweetened, fruit-on-the-bottom products. Greek-style strained yogurt offered more protein per serving, less sugar, and a thicker texture that appealed to health-conscious consumers in a way that conventional yogurt did not.

Chobani's success prompted every major player to launch Greek-style lines. Danone launched Oikos, General Mills launched Yoplait Greek, and private label Greek became standard across major retailers. The category shift was so complete that Greek yogurt now represents the majority of US yogurt dollar sales, an inversion that happened within approximately eight years of Chobani's launch.

This case is regularly cited in business education as an example of how a well-executed challenger brand with an authentic point of difference can permanently restructure a mature consumer goods category, even when the incumbents have overwhelming distribution and marketing scale advantages.

FAQ

Is Chobani publicly traded? No. Chobani remains a private company owned by founder Hamdi Ulukaya. The company filed for an IPO in 2021 but withdrew the filing. As of early 2026, Chobani has not relisted and continues to operate as a private company.

Who owns Yoplait? The Yoplait brand is owned by the French dairy cooperative SODIAAL. In the United States, General Mills holds the commercial license to sell Yoplait. In France and other markets, Yoplait is sold by various licensees, with SODIAAL directly or through other operators.

Does Danone own Activia and Oikos? Yes. Both Activia and Oikos are Danone brands. Activia is its functional probiotic yogurt brand. Oikos is its Greek yogurt brand competing directly with Chobani and Fage in the US market.

Who owns Stonyfield Farm? Stonyfield Farm is owned by Lactalis Group, the private French dairy company. Danone sold Stonyfield to Lactalis in 2017 for approximately $875 million as a condition of its acquisition of WhiteWave Foods, which regulators required to address antitrust concerns in the organic dairy market.

Explore Related Brands

• Activia - Danone's functional probiotic yogurt brand, sold in 70+ countries
• Oikos - Danone's Greek yogurt brand competing with Chobani
• Yoplait - General Mills' licensed yogurt brand, once the US market leader
• Chobani - Independent Greek yogurt brand that disrupted the US market in 2007
• Fage - Greek family-owned dairy company, pioneer of US Greek yogurt

Browse all food and beverage brands

Sources

1. Danone Annual Report 2024 -- https://www.danone.com/investors 2. General Mills Annual Report FY2025 -- https://investors.generalmills.com/ 3. Chobani Company Overview -- https://www.chobani.com/impact/ 4. Fage Company Overview -- https://www.fage.eu/company/history/ 5. Lactalis Group: Stonyfield acquisition and Siggi's -- https://www.lactalis.fr/en/ 6. Bloomberg: Chobani IPO withdrawal, 2021 -- https://www.bloomberg.com 7. Euromonitor International: Yogurt Market Share 2024 -- https://www.euromonitor.com

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com research methodology. Last updated: March 2026.