Greek style yogurt has transformed the US yogurt business in recent years. This is a familiar story for anyone who has been eating yogurt or walking the refrigerated aisle at the grocery store in recent years. Greek yogurt has the health benefit of offering more protein than many traditional yogurts, as well as a distinctive taste/texture profile that has grown in popularity.
According to the Wall Street Journal, The Chobani brand ranks third in the total US yogurt market, while long-standing global yogurt leaders like Dannon/Dannon Oikos and Yoplait also offer Greek product lines. Still, Chobani dominates the Greek yogurt sub-category in the US with over 50% market share. Despite the growth in the Greek segment, in March 2012, Kraft made the decision to exit the subcategory, to instead focus its Athenos brand on ‘innovating new products.’ The Athenos brand continues to offer feta cheese, hummus and pita chips.
The yogurt business is enjoying even more investment and innovation with the Muller Quaker Dairy’s Muller brand yogurt entry, built around the Muller Corner, Muller Greek Corner and Muller FrutUp product lines. Muller Quaker Dairy is a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Theo Muller a leading, privately-held German dairy business.
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