The yogurt market has seen some very strong growth since 2003, with further growth predicted by 2012. According to Zenith International, yogurt is expected to rise from 11m tonnes in 2003 to 16m tonnes in 2012 across more than 70 countries worldwide, which is equivalent to a 38% rise in consumption.
On average, consumption is rising by about 2.5% each year. Much of this growth has been driven by the functionality probiotics provide yogurts.
West Europe is the most developed region, accounting for 43% of consumption in 2003. Dynamic growth is predicted in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. The success of North America has been in part due to Dannon’s activities in promoting yogurt and the Americans fully embracing this, while in other countries such as in West Europe, this has been a well-established functional sector.
Interestingly, the Middle East is an important region predominantly due to the fact that Iran has the biggest market of yogurt in the world. It’s called ‘Cost’ and there are several types that Iranians eat with their lunch and dinner as a dessert. There’s also a type of drinking yogurt called ‘Dough’, and while much of this has traditionally been homemade, there’s a move towards industrialisation of this very traditional product. This goes to show how yogurt can vary between countries and regions and its traditional roots.
Iran is important in terms of growth, as are some other developing countries, with Brazil and Romania being in the top 10 countries for added volumes.
In terms of additional volumes, much of this will be coming from the US, as previously mentioned. Additionally, increased volumes will be seen in China, where per capita consumption will rise from 0.1kg to 0.5kg during this period.
Yogurts benefit from being nutritionally rich in protein and calcium. Its success as a product to help with digestion has been extolled by Danone and Yakult with their Actimel and Yakult products.
Nowadays, yogurt is available in many different varieties, from plain to low fat, indulgent to organic, premium to functional. The key trends prevalent in this sector are a move to natural, organic and free from artificial additives and preservatives.
Another trend is the inclusion of seeds, oats grains and superfruits in or with the yogurt to make it a tempting on-the-go treat. Exotic flavours, functional benefit and convenience are proving as important to consumers as its naturalness.
The high levels of innovation needed to compete in the yogurt sector means that branded products dominate the category. However, in the current economic environment, private label sales have gained market share at the expense of branded, to the extent that Danone announced it was commencing production of private label yogurts – the first time in its history.
Many brands have also recently moved from being marketed as a diet product to healthy, as consumers move from diet plans to a more holistic and natural approach.
Esther Renfrew is dairy market intelligence manager at Zenith International. You can contact Esther by clicking here.
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