In 2004, when Kyriakos and Yiannis Filippou, owners of FAGE, made the decision to build a production unit in the USA, seeing an important opportunity for Greek yogurt across the Atlantic, “Greek yogurt” was almost invisible, occupying just a “skin” in the refrigerators of American supermarkets.
Today, in the era of Ozempic and the dominance of high-protein products, the Greek yogurt category has become the ultimate trend in the American market, exceeding $3 billion in value.
And this is because the success of Greek strained yogurt, in fact the success of FAGE with our well-known Total, was quickly exploited by huge food groups, such as Danone, General Mills and Lactalis, but also retail chains (Walmart), launching yogurt “Greek style”, while the greatest benefit was (and continues to be) received by the Turkish Hamdi Ulukaya, who from scratch with the Chobani brand now owns more than a fifth of the yogurt market in the USA.
The big step
Now in the battle of “Greek yogurt” on American soil, the Greek dairy industry Kri Kri has decided to enter, choosing to test itself in a more niche market, that of frozen yogurt. Taking advantage of Greekness, as Mr. Panagiotis Tsinavos mentions in “Vima”, Kri Kri has already launched six Greek frozen yogurt codes, initially in local chains in Texas.
“America is a difficult market. In the first phase, we want to enter small chains, to test the product, to get feed back and in general to overcome childhood diseases, so that from next year we can also go to the “big” ones in the market with claims. states Mr. Tsinavos, noting that any impact of this activity will be seen in the company’s financial results from 2025 onwards.
According to the head of Kri Kri, the company is in advanced negotiations with Walmart as well as with the supermarket chain Kroger, while in response to a related question he points out that there is no plan to create a production unit in the USA where the frozen yogurt market is estimated at 360 million .dollars.
This is because, unlike yogurt, frozen yogurt, due to its long shelf life (two years), has the ability to reach distant countries.
Justification
The timing of the entry into the American market hides a very important symbolism for Kri Kri and personally for Panagiotis Tsinavos, major shareholder and administrative leader of the company, as it vindicates his strategic choice to invest in Greek yogurt – a move on which the family’s dairy industry from “tas Serras” to enter the Stock Exchange 20 years ago.
In fact, the company’s vision for Greek frozen yogurt, which combines the value of Greek yogurt and the pleasure of ice cream, is not limited to America but reaches as far as Korea, where the company already exports its products, as well as to Japan, a market that Kri Kri is very close to “opening”, as Mr. Tsinavos points out.
The pioneer FAGE
In the dynamic Greek yogurt market in the US, the pioneer FAGE is at the top of the plain yogurt category with a 29.9% market share in 2023, while overall in the yogurt category it ranks fourth with a 4.8% share in value and 3.8% in volume, according to data from Circana (formerly IRI). It should be noted, however, that strained yogurt only accounts for 14% of sales by value in the US market, with flavored yogurt and fruit yogurt accounting for the lion’s share of 86%.
General Mills and Groupe Danone have a combined market share in all yogurt categories of over 60% in terms of sales value. On the other hand, private label products represented last year about 9.5% of the market (sales by value).
Overall yogurt retail sales in America grew at a CAGR of 8.7% in 2023 and are estimated to reach $8.225 billion from $7.57 billion in 2022. In terms of sales volume, it grew at a CAGR of 3%.
The market will “run” some more
With consumers in America turning to healthier food options and placing increasing importance on wellness and fitness, the Greek yogurt market is expected to pick up speed and “run” at high growth rates, analysts report. The key factor driving the growth of this category in the US is that it functions as a meal/snack replacement.
As Greek yogurt has a higher protein and calcium content, it is considered a good and healthy choice. As a result of growing demand, Mordor Intelligence analysts estimate that the size of the yogurt market in North America, a region in which the US is considered the largest market, will reach $15.66 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach 18, 20 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.05% during the forecast period (2024-2029).
Of course, although the product has the name “Greek”, the Greek dairy industries, despite the increase in their exports in recent years, have a small share. And this is because the real Greek yogurt, that is, the one that has been produced in Greece, does not exceed 420 million euros, including sales in the domestic market.
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