Port Jeff yogurt maker in talks with Sam’s Club

Trimona Foods, a Port Jefferson-based company that sells Bulgarian yogurt, recently met with officials at Sam’s Club to get its product sold at the discount chain’s locations.

The meeting between Trimona and Sam’s Club came during Walmart’s virtual open call event, which is aimed at exploring opportunities with new and emerging businesses.

Atanas Valev developed Trimona Bulgarian Yogurt after two jars of a homemade yogurt were brought over from Bulgaria in 1991. Atanas made his yogurt at home using the same mother culture and eventually, the demand from friends and neighbors led him to offer it to local health food stores and farmers’ markets. Commercial production started not long thereafter.

“My VP of sales and I were super impressed with how well-prepared the buyers were,” Trimona CEO Pavel Kolarov said in a written statement. “We’re a small company and relatively unknown. Usually, we spend half of our time on calls explaining who we are and what our products are all about. But on this occasion, we didn’t have to. They had researched our company and brand extensively, which made for a very productive call. That’s quite unusual among retail buyers.”