Rä Foods rebrands frozen yogurt to grow in natural channels, sprouts go pink with Susan G. Komen

26-Sep-2024 - Last updated on 26-Sep-2024 at 14:18 GMT

Source: Rä Foods

Rä Foods rebranded and reformulated its line of frozen yogurts — from Mixmi to Wild About Mixmi Froyo — to appeal to consumers in the natural channel, as the company partners with the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

“Overwhelmingly, people go to the [frozen yogurt] category for fun [and] for taste. While we do have these health benefits, we want to make sure we are still bringing that energy and fun forward with the brand. So, that was a really big part of what we wanted to do as we rebranded,” said Stephanie Browder, VP of marketing at Rä Foods.

‘It was just a few slight tweaks ... that made us natural-channel compliant’

Wild About Mixmi Froyo comes in Orange Dream, Totally Vanilla, Ultimate Chocolate and Mango Mania flavors and is formulated with the BB-12 probiotic strain, which research shows increases beneficial gut bacteria and improves digestive health, the company said in a press release.

“When [Rä Foods] moved it over to retail, they did a really admirable job of getting it out there and getting it on shelf, but as we took a step back and looked at it with new and fresh eyes ... we [thought] we could be doing more in the space,” Browder elaborated.

In the rebranding, Rä Foods "wanted to bring the [frozen yogurt] piece forward ... because it did get lost a little bit on the old packaging," she admitted. While it discussed dropping the Mixmi altogether in the rebrand, Rä Foods did not want to lose the equity that it already built with the brand, she added.

Additionally, Rä Foods reformulated its frozen yogurts with non-GMO ingredients and natural flavors to comply with natural channels. The company also replaced the locust bean gum and tara gum of the original formula with carob bean gum and guar gum.

Partnering with Susan G. Komen Foundation to raise awareness of breast cancer in October

Next month, Rä Foods will be raising awareness about breast cancer in a partnership with Susan G. Komen, Browder said. Browder previously worked with the Susan G. Komen Foundation with her previous work at Avocados from Mexico.

“We are turning two of our packages pink for the month of October. So, we have our 100% broccoli sprouts, and then we actually launched a new SKU, maybe about six months ago, [which] is an alfalfa, broccoli, kale [sprout] blend. And that has actually been our number two mover since we launched it, behind broccoli,” Browder said.

Rä Foods goes ‘back to the drawing board’ with bread brand

Beyond sprouts and its frozen yogurt brands, Rä Foods is “going back to the drawing board” for its bread brand — Wild About Bread — which the company has discontinued temporarily but is redeveloping currently, Browder explained.

“Wild About Bread is something that [Ra Foods] had launched and done some things with during COVID, and then took a step back. So, we are going to reevaluate that one a little bit more, and that is going to become our focus in 2025 [and see] how we want to bring that back ... to market,” she elaborated.