Today marks 30 years of Lifeway Foods! Follow along the timeline as we travel through the past with photos, articles, and videos. It’s been a wild ride, but we have so much planned for the upcoming year! And we couldn’t have made it without the support of our Lifeway customers. So, Thank You! Be sure to stay tuned for all of the latest Lifeway developments, events, new products, and more!

2016

ProBugs Commercial

Cynthia Rowley Collaboration

2015

First National TV Commercial

New Packaging Launch

Lifeway visits Nasdaq

Golden Globes

2014

Lollapalooza/Kidzapalooza

The Launching of #MotherCulture

2013

How an Ancient Beverage Found Fame on Social Media

An awesome 2013 article on Mashable by Fran Berkman:

Its mysterious origin dates back thousands of years. Lore of the fermented dairy drink’s seemingly magical health benefits endured through the generations by word-of-mouth. Then, social media raised it to royalty.

Today, a company called Lifeway Foods makes close to $100 million annually selling kefir, a probiotic beverage often compared to yogurt.

“It took 2,000 years to bring this product into the mainstream through word-of-mouth,” Lifeway’s CEO Julie Smolyansky tells Mashable. “Social just multiplies that so much, so rapidly.”

Smolyansky’s parents founded the Chicago-based company in 1986. When her father died in 2002, she took over as CEO at just 27 years old. According to Smolyansky, many close family friends believed Lifeway would not endure with her at the helm.

Defying both those expectations amidst a recession that touched nearly every part of the U.S. economy, Lifeway’s sales have increased from $12 million to $80 million since 2002. At a time when unemployment became a national issue, somehow a company selling an obscure yogurt drink grew from 70 to more than 300 employees.

Through good timing and by opportunistically embracing technology, Lifeway has been able to reach increasingly large audiences with its salubrious product and unique story.

Read more here.

2012

The Story of Lifeway Foods

Every Mother Counts

In 2012, Lifeway ran the Every Mother Counts Sweepstakes. We redesigned our Blueberry bottle to promote the contest…

Every Mother Counts is an advocacy and mobilization campaign founded by Christy Turlington Burns to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally.

Lifeway gave over 200 prizes to some lucky winners, but the grand prize was a real treat. It included an all-expense paid trip for two to Chicago on April 16 to meet global maternal health advocate and founder of EMC, Christy Turlington Burns. Additional highlights from the grand prize included:

VIP viewing of Turlington Burns’ powerful new documentary “No Woman, No Cry.” The film shares stories of at-risk pregnant women and their caregivers as they face critical junctures in their pregnancies in four parts of the world.
Two-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago hotel.
Special gift bag with prizes.
$500 cash for expenses.