Chr. Hansen Launches Cultures for Greek Yogurt

The success of this variant is so pronounced that the market research company Zenith international believes it will increase global yogurt consumption by 4.5% in 2012. For the past number of years growth in the global yogurt market has been stable at around 3%.

27 April 2012 --- The international appetite for Greek style yogurt has exploded in recent years. In the US, it is the fastest growing dairy segment (source: Symphony IRI Group), and in the UK and Germany the trend towards enjoying Greek style yogurt in its own right and not just using it for cooking purposes is becoming equally predominant.

The success of this variant is so pronounced that the market research company Zenith international believes it will increase global yogurt consumption by 4.5% in 2012. For the past number of years growth in the global yogurt market has been stable at around 3%.

Well in line with the booming popularity Chr. Hansen has introduced a new series of powerful YoFlex and probiotic nu-trish cultures perfectly suited for Greek style yogurt.

The focus of the company’s well-oiled innovation machine has been on developing cultures with second-to-none taste and texturing properties, and they have been given appealing names like Creamy and Premium.

The new portfolio of seven cultures - three of them with the well-documented BB-12 probiotic strains for improved gut health - enables dairies worldwide to deliver on four mega consumer trends at the same time: Exquisite taste, healthy, 100% natural - and Greek!

“Consumers all over the world are passionately adopting the protein-packed alternative to regular yogurt – not surprisingly as Greek style yogurt is both nutritious, healthy and delicious,” says Chr. Hansen’s Morten Boesen, Marketing Manager, Fermented Milk Cultures.

The new cultures make it easy for yogurt producers to obtain the optimal taste and texture – and they perform extraordinarily well in low fat milk. In addition they are available as probiotics, and Greek yogurt is an excellent carrier of the health promoting cultures. Consumers can get the adequate daily dosage easily and on the go in small pots directly from the fridge – for instance on the way from work directly to the fitness club.

“Yogurt has become the new healthy snack and an extra advantage for the Greek style type is that it is very filling due its high content of protein,” adds Boesen.

In fact the yogurt market is driven by a very strong innovation of the product range. Today yogurt is so much more than the traditional breakfast dish. Going from pure; fruity; probiotic shots to indulgent dessert-like variants, yogurt is high in demand all over the world with global consumption exceeding 20 million tons a year.