Greek yogurt continues its meteoric rise

The percentage of all worldwide yogurt launches that were positioned as ‘Greek’ or ‘Greek style’ in the twelve months to the end of June was, at 8%, four times greater than five years ago, according to a new report by Innova Market Insights.

In the USA, 29% of yogurt launches were ‘Greek’ or ‘Greek style’, with 15% in Australasia and just under 10% in Western Europe.

Citigroup has noted that the Greek/Greek style yogurt market in North America was worth more than $1 billion/year: it is particularly well developed in the USA where it is said to account for around a quarter of the market. Sales grew 64% in 2011. The market leader is Chobani, with around 60% share. Together with Fage, it was quicker to identify the opportunity, forcing major players to try to catch up.

Earlier this year, Lu Ann Williams, Director of Innovation at Innova, noted that “the spectacular rise of Greek yogurt has been the key US dairy story in the last two years.”

A month after General Mills announced that it would enter the Greek yogurt market (the company acquired Yoplait in July 2011), Kraft discontinued its Athenos line on speculation that it was struggling to achieve the market share it had targeted.

Fans of Greek yogurt claim that it is tangier, less sweet and creamier. It also benefits from a strong health positioning with higher protein content and lower carbohydrate supplementing its probiotic qualities. It differs from its ‘regular’ counterpart in that it is strained extensively to remove much of the liquid whey, lactose and sugar, giving it its creamier texture.