Siggi Hilmarsson: Beautiful People 2011
By LESLIE PARISEAU
Siggi Hilmarsson, a towering Icelandic man, is the lanky 34-year-old namesake of Siggi's
yogurt, which he founded in 2005. But cultured milk wasn't always the plan for him. In 2002, Hilmarsson left Iceland to get an MBA at Columbia. He graduated, got a consulting gig and realized he missed some of the comforts of home. "Everything in America had sugar in it. I wanted something simpler." Hilmarsson began making skyr, the traditional, strained, thick yogurt he'd eaten growing up. "Sometimes it would turn out okay. Sometimes it was awful."
He took his recipe to an upstate dairy plant to work out the kinks. With a successful test batch spilling out of his refrigerator, he gave samples to friends, one of which happened to work at Murray's Cheese Shop in the West Village. Impressed with the product, Murray's became his first client, and he soon left his day job to ramp up production. Within four years, Siggi's expanded nationwide, and can be found on the shelves of nearly 2,000 stores including Whole Foods and Stop & Shop.
Simplicity is an essential part of the yogurt's success. At Siggi's core is skim milk from grass-fed cows that's almost completely strained of whey, requiring nearly three times as much milk as a regular yogurt, which means three times as much protein. The result is bright and tangy with a subtle sweetness from fruit and agave and a consistency so thick it sticks to an up- side-down spoon. As for plans of international expansion and fame, Hilmarsson ponders for a moment, "World domination? Well, it would be fun, but not for now."
SIGGI WEARS CARDIGAN BY BILLY REID AND SHIRT BY BLACK FLEECE FOR BROOKS BROTHERS.
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
yogurt, which he founded in 2005. But cultured milk wasn't always the plan for him. In 2002, Hilmarsson left Iceland to get an MBA at Columbia. He graduated, got a consulting gig and realized he missed some of the comforts of home. "Everything in America had sugar in it. I wanted something simpler." Hilmarsson began making skyr, the traditional, strained, thick yogurt he'd eaten growing up. "Sometimes it would turn out okay. Sometimes it was awful."
He took his recipe to an upstate dairy plant to work out the kinks. With a successful test batch spilling out of his refrigerator, he gave samples to friends, one of which happened to work at Murray's Cheese Shop in the West Village. Impressed with the product, Murray's became his first client, and he soon left his day job to ramp up production. Within four years, Siggi's expanded nationwide, and can be found on the shelves of nearly 2,000 stores including Whole Foods and Stop & Shop.
Simplicity is an essential part of the yogurt's success. At Siggi's core is skim milk from grass-fed cows that's almost completely strained of whey, requiring nearly three times as much milk as a regular yogurt, which means three times as much protein. The result is bright and tangy with a subtle sweetness from fruit and agave and a consistency so thick it sticks to an up- side-down spoon. As for plans of international expansion and fame, Hilmarsson ponders for a moment, "World domination? Well, it would be fun, but not for now."
SIGGI WEARS CARDIGAN BY BILLY REID AND SHIRT BY BLACK FLEECE FOR BROOKS BROTHERS.
GO BACK TO SEE MORE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF 2011
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