Yoplait: Time to shine
Grant Yates, UK Sales Director, Yoplait explains why yoghurt offers wholesalers and retailers a tasty opportunity to optimise their dairy range and drive sales
Currently worth a staggering £297m in convenience*, yoghurt is a category on the rise, offering wholesalers, and their retail customers, a tempting opportunity to capitalise on a number of powerful consumer trends.
“In the past year, the category has grown 9.6%,* outpacing many other ambient sectors that are flat or declining,” said Grant Yates, UK Sales Director, Yoplait. “Within that, plain natural Greek yoghurt is growing at 22.2%,** while dairy drinks are growing at 8.8%, and worth a whopping £415m.**”
While the data tells a strong story, what else do wholesalers needs to be mindful of? “For wholesalers, yoghurt is particularly attractive because it sits across multiple high-growth shopper trends at once. Protein, gut health, lunchbox nutrition, food-to-go and functional health are all driving sales right now, and yoghurt ticks all of those boxes.
“Convenience retailers are looking for categories that can drive reliable sales, increase basket spend and support multiple shopper missions, and yoghurt does all three. It’s the ideal purchase across breakfast, lunchboxes, snacking and evening occasions, making it a resilient and highly relevant category for convenience retail.”
However, this doesn’t apply right across the category as brand loyalty is key for yoghurts and dairy drinks. “Families want familiar, trusted brands they know their children will actually eat,” agrees Yates. “Those convenience stores that stock recognised yoghurt brands will become a reliable destination, not just a distress-purchase stop.”
NATURAL MOMENTUM
Consumer trends are driving natural momentum, such as health and wellbeing. From protein to gut health, lower sugar and added functional benefits, health claims are pulling shoppers into the category. Consumers are actively seeking products that work harder for them, and for their families.
Yates explains: “Kids’ nutrition remains crucial within the category , particularly as more than one million children are at risk of poor development due to insufficient intake of key nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. This has serious implications especially considering almost 20% of 4-10 year olds are vitamin D deficient.***
Kids’ nutrition is a serious opportunity with a serious purpose. Kids’ nutrition is at the heart of all of Yoplait’s products and Yoplait is committed to raising awareness and educating the health benefits of kids’ yoghurts. Yoplait are focusing on the calcium and vitamin D fortification contained in products such as Petits Filous and Frubes.
TOP TIPS
Back the category: Give yoghurt the focus it deserves; it’s a growing category and shoppers expect to see it in convenience stores.
… especially the big sellers: Focus on the bestselling SKUs to make it easier for retailers, and their customers, to understand what to purchase.
Make it visible: Yoghurt has the potential to become a bigger impulse and top-up purchase, so place it in the right places.
THE WHOLESALE MUST STOCKS
Wildlife Choobs and Frubes provide wholesalers with two standout portable yoghurt brands for lunchboxes and snacking. Wildlife Choobs is already the category leader,** while Frubes has been refreshed to bring new energy, visibility and lunchbox appeal.
Yop is the UK’s number one flavoured yoghurt drink worth £3.7m and growing +15.** We have recently invested in its first major redesign in more than 20 years to drive trial and strengthen standout among teenage and young adult shoppers.
Petits Filous for kids’ nutrition, with calcium and vitamin D, including our latest launch Petits Filous Greek Style pouches.
Yoplait’s Skyr is a must-stock for high-protein, health-led adult occasions.
BREAKFAST
Still regarded as the most important meal of the day, breakfast yoghurt occasions are growing as traditional options lose traction. Consumers are now looking for higher protein, lower sugar alternatives that offer functional benefits as well as convenience and versatility. Portability is fuelling on-the-go formats such as dairy drinks with sales growing 8.8% year on year.*
“Our portable formats, such as Petits Filous Small Pots (47g), Petits Filous Greek Style pouches, Frubes and Wildlife Choobs continue to perform strongly for lunchbox and on-the-go occasions, while yoghurt drinks like Yop and Petits Filous Mess Free Strawberry Drink provide a convenient, resealable option for commuting and travel.
“Yop remains at the forefront of that growth as the UK’s number one flavoured yoghurt drink, now worth £3.7m and growing +15% in value.”
CHILLED IS NOT A BARRIER
Yates explains: “Wholesalers know that the chilled category needs more store-hours than ambient, with rotation, stock management and shorter shelf life, but there is no doubt, the sales rate more than justifies the effort.
“The secret to chilled success is simple: stick to the biggest sellers and avoid overstocking SKUs. Keep your range tight and focussed on the high-performing products with a proven track record.
EXECUTION EXCELLENCE
“It is crucial to make the opportunity easy to shop and easy to understand for retailers. Rather than organise SKUs by brand, instead order them by shopper mission, such as lunchbox formats, high-protein and functional products.
“Secondary sitings are really important, especially for yoghurt drinks and portable formats such as pouches, and products such as Yop should be visible in high-footfall chillers and food-to-go locations to reinforce visibility for impulse purchases.”
“In depot, strong POS can also help retailers quickly understand what role each segment plays within the category, while online, avoid placing yoghurt within long, generic chilled listings for visibility.”
SEIZE THE SEASON
As we approach peak summer and back-to-school time (September, but also January and post-Easter), yoghurts and dairy drinks are a must stock for your retailers. Chilled refreshment, such as Yop, drives impulse sales while families will be looking for breakfast options, after-school snacks and lunchbox solutions.
(Sources: * Nielsen Scantrack,27th December 2025,Value Sales Performance & Growth; ** Nielsen NIQ Total Convenience, MAT, 21.02.26; *** Kids’ Yoghurt and Consumers – A Relationship Turned Sour 2024)
breakfast dairy Grant Yates nutrition snacking yoghurt Yoplait
