“In 1942, when Dannon introduced its yogurt in America, the product was such a flop that by 1947, the company began adding fruits and sugar to its tart, European-style cultured milk. “Americans wanted candy,” said Gary Hirshberg, a founder and the “C.E.-Yo” of Stonyfield Farm, a yogurt company in Londonderry, N.H.
And for decades that’s exactly what we got — a sweet snack food. Only recently have we finally become smitten by thick, plain yogurts, like those traditionally made in parts of Europe, the Middle East and India. This month, FAGE U.S.A., whose tart, refined yogurts have been imported from Greece for the past decade, will open a plant in Johnstown, N.Y. And Hirshberg, who couldn’t sell his Greek-style yogurt when Stonyfield began in 1983 — the dawn of the sad low-fat yogurt years — decided to give it another go last summer with an organic version called Oikos.” Read more here!
