About FAGE
Once they’ve tried it, people want to know more about FAGE Total Greek Yogurt. Who makes it? Where does it come from? Where can I get more? So, we invite you to find out.
How it all started
In 1926, Athanassios Filippou opened a small dairy shop in Athens that soon became known for its delicious, creamy yogurt. The business grew, and in 1964 our company's first yogurt-producing factory was opened.
FAGE (pronounced "fa-yeh") has come a long way from its humble beginnings. It's now Greece's biggest dairy company, producing milk, cheese and yogurt for customers worldwide.
Today FAGE operates three production facilities in Greece for dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese and dairy desserts). Our wholly owned subsidiary FAGE USA Dairy Industry, Inc., opened a new state-of-the-art yogurt production facility in upstate New York in April 2008.
FAGE is renowned for the unique straining process that gives our yogurt its characteristic taste and texture. Even after all these years, FAGE is still a family-run business whose motto is "We would never make a product that we would not give to our children."
Company history
FAGE is owned and strategically led by the Filippou family, which has been involved in the Greek dairy industry for over 85 years. Today, third-generation members of the Filippou family run and manage our operations, and are leading our expansion into international markets.
FAGE was founded in 1926 by the family of Athanassios Filippou, the father of FAGE’s two present shareholders and grandfather of today’s chief executive officer, chairman and vice-chairman. In 1954, Ioannis Filippou, son of Athanassios, entered the family business and helped to create the first wholesale distribution network for yogurt. By 1964, the first yogurt and pastry production facility in Galatsi, Athens, had been founded by the two brothers and present shareholders, Ioannis and Kyriakos Filippou. In 1975, the yogurt plant was relocated from Galatsi to Metamorfossi, in Attica, where FAGE’s corporate headquarters and largest production facility remain to this day.
In 2006, Athanassios Filippou, son of Ioannis Filippou, became our chief executive officer, and his brother Dimitrios Filippou became vice-chairman. In 2010, Athanassios-Kyros Filippou, son of Kyriakos, became our chairman. Ioannis and Kyriakos remain as lifelong honorary chairmen and non-executive directors.
From our inception until the mid-1970s, we were involved primarily in the small-scale production and distribution of traditional Greek yogurt. During that time, retail outlets typically sold yogurt as a commodity product in bulk quantities, and the consumer often was unaware of the manufacturer. In 1975, we were the first company to introduce branded yogurt products to the Greek market. These products, which carried the FAGE trademark, were sold in smaller, sealed tubs and presented in attractively designed packaging. Over the last three decades, branded yogurt products have steadily replaced the traditional bulk varieties, transforming the Greek yogurt industry into a predominantly branded market.
From our roots as a local Athens dairy producer, we have expanded throughout Greece, as well as internationally. We began exporting yogurt to the United Kingdom in 1980, to Italy in 1983 and to the United States in 1998, and we continue to enjoy growth in these countries as well as, in others, such as Germany and Cyprus.
In June 2000, FAGE USA Holdings, Inc., (formerly FAGE USA, Corp.) was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of FAGE to import, distribute and promote FAGE Total in the U.S. market.
After only four years of sales in the United States, and with sales of over 2,000 tons of imported yogurt in 2004, we saw significant growth potential for our yogurt products in the U.S. market. In February 2005, we established FAGE USA Dairy Industry, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of FAGE USA Holdings, Inc., to build and operate a state-of-the-art yogurt manufacturing facility in New York State that could help us meet current and future demand.
Our initial plan was to invest $25 million to build a facility with an annual capacity of 6,000 tons, but U.S. sales growth and customer feedback were so strong that we increased the facility’s capacity, first to 12,000 tons, then to 18,000 tons, and recently to 45,000 tons. The successive capacity increases also increased the aggregate amount of our investment to $125 million; additional investments are planned for 2011. Since June 2008, all of the yogurt that we sell in the United States has been produced at our manufacturing facility in Johnstown, New York.
Milestones in FAGE’s history
1926: Opening of Athanassios Filippou’s dairy at 213 Patision Street.
1954: Launching of the first yogurt wholesale network and involvement of Ioannis Filippou, todays FAGE’s honorary chairman, in the family business.
1964: Establishment of the yogurt (and pastry products) plant in Galatsi by the brothers Ioannis and Kyriakos Filippou.
1975: FAGE’s move to the Metamorfossi plant where Total, the first standardized and branded Greek yogurt, is produced.
1980: Exports start. First market: United Kingdom.
1991: Entry into the cheese category.
1993: Entry into the milk category.
2008: Opening of the yogurt production plant in the U.S.