17 May Danone launches ‘new category’ of yoghurt for Spanish market

Danone has launched a “new category” of yoghurt to Spanish consumers – offering the experience of eating ice cream with the nutritional benefits of yoghurt – at a whopping capex of some R105m!

The firm has set its sights on the high-demand Spanish yoghurt market through the launch of the frozen yoghurt concept – Yolado – which has been specifically processed to be stored with refrigerated yoghurts before purchase, and only frozen at home before consumption.

According to Danone, Yolado is the first yoghurt in the world to be specifically developed for this purpose.

While the product is being marketed as a healthy alternative to ice cream, with Danone highlighting that the frozen yoghurts are made from “fresh milk and fruit pieces” with an individual strawberry Yolado containing 98 calories, one of the obvious benefits is no loss of product quality from thawing while in transit in the supply chain or in consumers’ cars after purchase.

Yolado frozen yoghurts are available in five varieties: natural, strawberry and lemon in 125ml cartons and berries and stracciatella in 500ml containers. Both formats have an RRP of EU2.49 ($3.16).

The product, which was launched in Barcelona by the France-based firm earlier this month and hit shelves this week, is the product of two years of R&D and an investment of around €10m.

The confirmation comes just weeks after the France-based company voiced concerns over Q1 European market results – results it attributed to “deteriorated conditions in southern countries.”

The firm hopes that its “new category” will offer consumers a “fresh and different experience of yoghurt consumption.”

“This product represents a new category of yoghurt consumption. [Before purchase] you put it in the yoghurt area, at the same temperature of yoghurt, and [when at home] you put it in your freezer and eat it with the temperature and texture of an ice cream,” said Danone Spain director of communications Alvaro Bordas Rios.

The product, which will be available in individual and family size packaging, will be offered in five flavours.

“Spain is the country with the highest per capita consumption of yoghurt in the world and therefore constitutes a unique platform to launch a product like Yolado. Once again our country acts as a model of innovation in Danone offering new option that add value to the consumer,” said Danone director of marketing Santiago Mier.