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Comment by nsgf | Hacker News Reader

Yea, they accomplished a lot but are now facing multiple lawsuits from the Greek dairy company FAGE. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=el&sl=el&tl=en&u=h...

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Hah! Oh man...this is so classic I just had to laugh. In case you weren't aware, the rivalry between Turks and Greeks has been going on for literally centuries. What makes this all the more laughable is that the word "yogurt" is Turkish. However, since the Greeks have done a better job (in recent history at least) of exporting their culture to the west, Chobani's sales would probably plummet if they relabeled as "Turkish Yogurt", even though that would be a more accurate term for it in more ways than one.

Actually, i am located in Athens. The rivalry is indeed a major factor, spanning centuries. FAGE bases all these lawsuits on E.U. schemes: PDO (protected designation of origin), PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional speciality guaranteed)

Howdy neighbor! (I can literally see Greece from my front porch.)

Hello guy with impeccable vision!

The lawsuits are mainly in the U.S., aren't they? As far as I know, in the EU the situation isn't really disputed, since origin labeling is stricter. Here in Denmark there are three common categories of labeling for this style of yogurt: 1) "Greek yogurt", which implies it's imported from Greece; 2) "Turkish yogurt", which implies it's imported from Turkey; and 3) "strained" or "Greek-style" or "Turkish-style" yogurt, which doesn't imply a geographic origin.

Fage oddly has nearly zero market share in Denmark though, despite Greek yogurt having a good market share. The dominant brand is the Danish brand "Nostimo", part of the Danton Trading group run by a Greek-Danish entrepreneur. The yogurt is all sourced from Greece, but the operation is run mainly out of Aarhus.

Yes, it seems to be U.S.-centric, although the most recent one was in the U.K.

...of exporting their culture...

Har.

"In any case, he wasn’t sure how else he could succeed in America, and he did not want to return to Turkey: he is a Kurd, an ethnic group that has been subjected to discrimination there."

Heh, even more interesting. At least the Turkish government is warming up to an independent Kurdistan now that Kurdish Iraq is helping to fight ISIS.

"Independent Kurdistan" not including claimed Turkish territory of course, only Northern Iraq.

Yes.

> the rivalry between Turks and Greeks has been going on for literally centuries.

Literally, for millenia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_war

Not really, Turks came to that territory much later https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey#The_Seljuks_and_the_Ott...

> Not really, Turks came to that territory much later

Good point. However, I think geography would create a rivalry between whoever occupies the region that is currently Greece and whoever is in Asia Minor.

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