Yaza Foods

In 2020, Yaza's Founder, Christian Karim Khalil, moved to Atlanta, Georgia with his family in search for a better life for his young children. He began to shop for the food his family was used to – a good labneh, which he usually has for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To his disappointment, the only labneh he could find was filled with thickeners and preservatives, and tasted nothing like what he was used to. Karim started making labneh in his kitchen, spending days straining yogurt through a cheesecloth. Friends came to visit, tried the labneh, and loved it! At that moment, Karim knew he was on to something. He met up with Ron, an expert in the dairy industry. They quickly got to work on creating the first authentic labneh in the United States. With samples brought straight from Lebanon, they began recreating the smooth and creamy taste of real labneh. Along with plain, they came up with the idea for flavors so people could enjoy the benefits of labneh as easily as possible. They created Za'atar & Olive Oil, the traditional way of eating it. Then they made Spicy Chili with spices and peppers from the Mediterranean. It was then that Yaza was born and launched the very first flavored labneh on the market in the summer of 2023. After perfecting the recipe, they hired Stephen for sales and Kelsey for marketing to help spread the word and get labneh into the homes and mouths of people across the United States. The positive feedback has been overwhelming for Yaza and the labneh market has been growing tremendously in the past year. Yaza plans to expand their flavors and add a new product line in the near future while staying true to their mission of providing consumers with authentic tastes of the Mediterranean.