Case Study. ProU Yogurt

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Debra Allen
5 years ago
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1 Case Study ProU Yogurt

2 Background Information What we are presenting: Glanbia Ireland s Solmiko MPC Low Lactose product About the Client Target Audience: Dairy ingredient buyers - Glanbia s Solmiko MPC LL is ideally suited for use where low bacterial counts, low lactose, functionality and flavour are critical. What this case study demonstrates about Glanbia Ireland: An ability to be adaptive with our ingredient products the depth and breadth of our experience industry-specific expertise an ability to deliver exceptional service ProU Yogurt business owners - Michael and Jane Murphy The Murphy s began this familyrun business - making yogurts with added nutritional value for consumers interested in healthy ageing after seeing a gap in the market in This is a young business and Phase One was to establish that the product worked. Stage Two was to commercialize the product nationally and Stage Three is to consider exporting overseas. They are currently in Stage Two. Their story Michael and Jane were very much driven by their personal and professional experiences in the area of health and wellness. As a former Markets Director in Bord Bia, understanding Health and Wellness from an age-related perspective was key for Michael. Personally, he became more conscious of what his parents were going through as they got older. Our interest was ignited in the whole area of Sarcopenea (degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass) and the role that protein played within that. We saw a gap in the market for products that could help people age better. They began researching people aged 40+ not just seniors in their own right. They wanted to assess how to plan better ageing from aged 40 onwards through diet and exercise. They began by initially looking at muscles because they were interested in the protein element of nutrition. This then led to looking at bone and muscle health as it became apparent from the research that these were inextricably linked in the minds of those interested in the product. When I trialed the product I knew my calcium levels were pretty good but the response from consumer research was that the target audience felt they needed to be pro-active about introducing more Calcium into their diet. They were also interested in protein but research illustrated that they didn t know a lot about it, so with our understanding of the requirement for both in healthy ageing - we looked at a combination of both Calcium and Protein within the product. It s great that I can get that fortification from a company like Glanbia Ireland. At the time I didn t have my Calcium and Vitamin D ingredient and I subsequently sourced this from Glanbia Nutritionals.

3 Objective Michael knew that he wanted to develop a yogurt product targeted at those looking to increase their Calcium and Protein intake. With a mix of personal and professional experience under his belt, he saw this market opportunity while he was caring for some family members who were suffering with Osteoporosis. He set to work and realized quickly there was no yogurt product on the market in Ireland that offered both increased Calcium and Protein. Michael had sourced most of his other raw materials and wanted to find a Milk Protein Concentrate to suit his requirements. What were the client s expectations of the product? Michael wanted a product that would give body to the yogurt and Solmiko MPC Low Lactose evidently made the yoghurt less viscose. He also required a clean flavor and a creamy mouthfeel which was offered with this specific product. Why did the client engage GI to help? Previously, Michael was Market s Director in Bord Bia and would have had a good insight into Glanbia Ireland. He knew the expertise and the caliber of people making decisions and therefore Glanbia Ireland was his first port of call when he needed to secure good quality protein. He initially made contact with Product Managers and GI CEO Jim Bergin was involved in what he termed was a very collaborative relationship with the Product Management team.

4 Resolution Glanbia Ireland had the capability to provide the mix that Michael wanted of both Whey and Casein. He wanted to have both ingredients represented in significant amounts in the yogurt not just Whey he realized most of the Protein products on the market were very Whey driven. But Michael believes that both play a role in terms of muscle recovery so was eager to have a good mix. He equally wanted the viscosity to be right and the solubility to lack any grainy-ness. What was the final solution? Glanbia Ireland collaborated with the client on a strategy. They collected feedback to inform the ultimate solution and carried out pilots and testing phases. Following collaboration with GI s R&D team and Teagasc Moorpark, Michael trialed two different variations of Solmiko - a Milk Protein Concentrate and a Milk Protein Isolate. During his trial of the full range he discovered that MPI was adding cost, so he opted for Solmiko MPC Low Lactose. Using just one MPC meant Michael could simplify his supply chain while gaining the optimum solution for his formulation. Glanbia s Solmiko MPC Low Lactose is a spray dried, low lactose Milk Protein Concentrate powder manufactured from fresh ultra-filtered skim milk. This product is a good source of native micellar casein and whey proteins in the same ratio as found naturally in milk. With Solmiko MPC Low Lactose, the yogurt also produced a better mouth-feel and a creamier texture. Solmiko MPC Low Lactose has the following characteristics: Low bacterial counts Reduced lactose, elevated protein content Excellent clean flavour profile Heat stable Good solubility High nutritional value Rich in milk calcium Low viscosity in high protein application Solmiko MPC LL is ideally suited for use where low bacterial counts, low lactose, functionality and flavour are critical: RTD Beverages including meal replacement and neutral ph sports drinks RTM / powdered nutritional products Protein fortified foods High protein / sports nutrition bars Weight management products Medical and clinical nutrition application Child nutrition such as follow-on formula and growing up milk Low lactose foods Did the solution accomplish the objective? Consumer research was carried out Glanbia Ireland held a taste panel and the company also hosted an independent taste panel (Behavior & Attitudes) at the end of January 2017, which confirmed that the product performed very well against the competition with 2:1 preference on taste. The product is available on supermarket shelves today and is performing well. Was it important to the client to use an Irish solution? Irish provenance is very important. I wanted to have the product as an Irish story. In terms of consumer research, the most important thing for consumers was functionality of the product; the second was it s Irish. The research showed that consumers felt a confidence in the fact that the ingredients were Irish. Particularly in the farming community - the fact that the ingredients were from Glanbia was quite important. They were reassured that there were quality ingredients in the product. We use the Love Irish Food logo on our packs.

5 Outcome ProU - The journey to success ProU was launched in 2016 initially in Dublin. The product is available nationally in over 60 of the SuperValu large stores. It is also available regionally in Leinster in Tesco and also in Dunnes Stores. Plans are in the pipeline to widen distribution in ProU is also targeting the Healthcare market and Workplace Dining arena with ProU Yogurt now available to purchase in the Sports Injury Clinic in Dublin, Rehab Centres in Dublin, Our Lady s Hospital in Navan, The Hermitage Clinic and several nursing care homes. In the corporate arena, ProU Yogurt is now being served in the canteen facilities of several multinationals including Fitbit and Abbott and also in AIB. We are continuously verifying the concept at a consumer level ensuring the consumers see value in the product and they re willing to buy it. The next steps are to roll that out on a national basis with one retailer initially and then expand this reach. The second focus for now is healthcare and workplace industries. We have customers in hospital canteens and clinics and we are targeting Workplace Dining - so where companies are very interested in the health and wellbeing of their employees, we feel that there s a role for ProU. ProU is hitting good rates of sales within stores. The biggest challenge in-store is awareness. It is estimated that the awareness levels of the product in-store is around 10%. The company is continually focusing on building awareness in a bid to keep stock moving as ProU Yogurt is a short shelf life product. Growth and Development On examination of the two big players in the Irish market, Glenisk and Liberte, both have grown their market share quite strongly in recent years. For Phase One the objective for ProU was to establish that the product worked. Stage Two is commercializing the product nationally, which is where the company is at today and Stage Three is taking it to the export market. Feedback/trends There s quite a cohort of people who are very conscious of the need to look after bones and muscles and want to do it through their food. ProU has added value with the additional Calcium and Protein content in the product to meet these needs. However, there is also a focus on sugar content at present and the fact that ProU has low sugar sparks debate during tasting. Sustainability and ProU Glanbia and Killowen (who produces the yogurt) are both Origin Green verified so that was very much the back end of the Origin Green verification process ProU Yogurts could achieve Origin Green status quite quickly as a result. There is also reassurance in that all of the ingredients are naturally produced. ProU has not yet put a focus on the benefits of Grass-Fed ingredients in terms of its CLAs, Omega fatty acids, Beta Carotene and Vitamin A as the company is satisfied that the product is communicating enough healthy messages. However on a personal level the Murphy s are reassured that their ingredients are grass fed as they believe that grass is an indicator of quality. Sugar is a huge phenomenon in this space. People are concerned about the level of sugars and not so much about the levels of fats anymore. We are the only protein product on the market that is full fat we are 2.6g or 2.9g in the natural product whereas other products are zero fat in many cases. I m seeing a trend that consumers feel that full fat is good and milk products are considered low fat products.. We took the advice of medical professionals as we want to be responsible so we ve kept the sugar levels low. That is going to keep us out of part of the market but we believe that for the brand, we need to adhere to this philosophy and keep our sugar levels low as that s ultimately what the health-conscious consumer would want.

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