Positioned as a sub-brand that stretches across Danone’s Oikos, Light & Fit and Too Good & Co. brands, the Remix products are Danone’s take on a convenient, better-for-you snack that seeks to expand yogurt consumption beyond breakfast and appeal to consumers who are looking for both indulgent and nutrient dense foods.
“The US market still has a lot of opportunity for growth, even though yogurt is a very established category. The per capita consumption is still significantly below other more developed regions, like Europe. And part of that is in the US, yogurt is traditionally consumed mainly in the morning,” Rafael Acevedo, Danone North America’s president of yogurt, told FoodNavigator-USA.
But, he added, “that is shifting, and consumers are moving [away from distinct meals and] more towards snacking,” and as they do they are looking for products that are “great tasting, but that will have very good nutritional value.”
The Remix sub-brand helps Danone address those needs by offering consumers a nutrient dense base of yogurt with a level of “permissible indulgence” from the mix-ins, which include bites of chocolate, nuts, mini-marshmallows, pretzel bites, diced fruit and more, Acevedo said.
The mix-ins also “bring more excitement into the yogurt category,” which Acevedo says he believes will attract more consumers to the category.
For example, under the Oikos brand, which is favored by more health-conscious and physically active consumers, Danone will deliver 11 grams of protein per single-serve Remix product with flavor profiles that “tend to be a little bit more inspired by protein bar flavors,” including Coco Almond Chocolate, Salted Caramel and S’mores, Acevedo said.
Under Danone’s Light & Fit line, which traditionally has leaned “more feminine,” the flavors “tend to be more dessert inspired, but what we call permissible desserts because they have only 120 calories, good levels of protein and low sugar,” he said. Flavors under Light & Fit Remix include Strawberry Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie and Brownie Sundae, which are all matched with Greek yogurt.
Under the Too Good & Co. brand, which appeals to label-readers who look for simple, clean ingredients and low sugar, the Remix options favor more traditional breakfast flavors, including Strawberry Dark Chocolate Almond, Blueberry Almond Oat Crisp and Banana Dark Chocolate Honey. Each 4.5 ounce package has only 6 gram of sugar, 10 grams of protein and no artificial sweeteners, according to Danone.
Remix is ‘an opportunity to recruit more people into our brands’
Across all three brands, Acevedo said he expects, “these types of innovations and products to skew younger. So, part of our strategy is this is an opportunity for us to expand occasions with some of the existing brand consumers that we have, but it is also an opportunity to recruit more people into our brands, and we are seeing this is a great way to bring younger consumers into the category.”
While some other players, notably Chobani Flip and General Mills’ Yoplait, also offer mix-ins and yogurt together in dual compartment packages, Acevedo says there is significant untapped potential for CPGs in the mix-in space.
“There is more than $1bn in terms of mix-ins right now, and only about 40% of that is being done in consumer packaged goods. The rest is consumers mixing it themselves. So, there is an opportunity for us to provide this platform and provide consumers with a great tasting,” convenient and nutritious solution, Acevedo said.
Remix branding boosts visual appeal of Danone brands
To maximize the impact of the new products, Danone strategically created Remix to bring together three of the company’s brands under a single eye-catching block on store shelves to not only highlight the “endless mixabilities” offered by the platform but also how the three brands relate to each other.
“The strategy is to merchandise the three brands together, under the same headline of Remix, to showcase our products and how the behavior of mixing the yogurt with mix-ins” creates a new shared experience, Acevedo said.
“Bundling all of these together and focusing on Remix as a platform in the location of snacking also makes it simpler for the consumer and helps us to have the right scale,” he added.
Beyond blocking, Danone will support the launch with an “end-to-end” integrated marketing campaign “all the way from screen to shelf,” Acevedo said.
This will include significant investments in digital, online video and promotions at shelf to drive initial trial, he added.
Innovation, health benefits boost yogurt sales, but more room to grow
Danone’s Remix launch comes at a time when yogurt is growing quickly – thanks in part to consumers seeking value during the current challenging economic environment and a return to on-the-go lifestyles post-pandemic.
According to Circana data, yogurt was one of the fastest growing dairy categories in 2023 with sales up 3.6% year-over-year to $708m.
Acevedo attributed this increase, which he says has accelerated even more in 2024, in part to consumers looking for more nutritional value from food to get the most out of their grocery budgets, which are still being squeezed by inflation.
“Yogurt is a carrier of very good benefits for consumers. We see it deliver value to consumers in the form of high protein, low sugar – especially Too Good & Co.,” he said. He added that Danone has also created different package sizes that enhance value – either by offering a lower price per ounce in bulk or as a lower entry price point with smaller packages.
Finally, he said, innovation – like Remix – is helping to ensure that Danone, and yogurt more broadly, can address consumers’ different needs.
To build on this moment going forward, Acevedo encourages stakeholders in the yogurt category to work with retailers to improve the shopping experience, including how brands are organized on the shelf.
He said he also sees significant potential for yogurt beyond spoonable options to include more drinkable products.
