Chobani Releases Plant-Based Coffee Creamers as IPO Nears

Yogurt maker Chobani is launching a line of plant-based coffee creamers, which will join the company’s robust line of dairy-free and oat-based options. The new creamers are made with cane sugar, sunflower oil and medium-chain triglycerides oil from coconut and come in a variety of flavors including caramel macchiato, chocolate hazelnut, french vanilla and sweet and creamy.

Chobani Plant-Based Coffee Creamers were designed to attract consumers who have been turned off by the texture or taste of other plant-based offerings, which sometimes feature a gritty texture or unpleasant aftertaste. As the new creamers hit store shelves after about 18 months in the making, Chobani is hoping to grab a larger share of the at-home coffee drinking market accelerated by the ongoing pandemic.

“As coffee drinkers continue to elevate their at-home experience and ask for better options, we’re expanding our creamer offering to include four new plant-based creamers full of the flavors they love,” said Chobani president and CEO, Peter McGuinness, in a press release. “With this expansion, we offer better options with something for everyone — creamers made from oat, farm-fresh dairy, or plant-based ingredients.”

Related: Chobani Has Left Plastic Packaging Behind and is Introducing Paper-Based Cups

This is not Chobani’s first foray into coffee creamers. It entered the market in 2019 when the category of coffee creamers was dominated by a few players, but differentiated itself by offering natural, non-GMO ingredients while avoiding artificial flavors, sweeteners or preservatives — the same approach it took to yogurt in 2007.

Since Chobani launched its dairy coffee creamer in 2019, the company has seen remarkable growth, and gained confidence that it could make further inroads in the category through plant-based coffee creamers. According to Persistence Market Research, the global plant-based creamer market is estimated to be worth $12.2 billion by 2031 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7 percent.

In 2021, US retail sales of coffee creamers amounted to $3.9 billion according to Euromonitor, and represented a 40 percent increase from 2016. The expansion of Chobani’s creamer business further puts it head-to-head with consumer-packaged goods (CPG) giants like Nestlé and Danone, multinational food brands that control much of the category.

The plant-based coffee creamer comes Chobani gears up to go public. In November 2021, the company filed for an initial public offering (IPO) under the symbol “CHO,” and is expected to officially debut on Wall Street later this year. According to Investopedia, Chobani was estimated to be valued at $10 billion in July 2021, but its true valuation will become more clear as the IPO nears.

Substantial payouts from IPOs typically call to mind tech employees or software engineers. Where Chobani’s IPO differs from others is that some of its hourly workers could stand to gain up to $1 million or more in stock rewards, according to Forbes. The company’s 2,000 full-time employees could be awarded shares worth up to 10 percent of the company’s value when it goes public or is sold. This is an uncommon but promising outcome in an industry that is not typically praised for its treatment of factory workers.