Arla’s much-heralded ‘master brand’ strategy has been thrown into question after the company pulled its Arla Squeeze yoghurt brand less than a year after launch.
Arla Squeeze, launched in April, was the company’s first UK product to be sold under the Arla corporate brand. Pitched as a cheap and healthy on-the-go snack for teenagers, the product was billed as a new concept for the dairy category, with Arla targeting 1.5 million unit sales in year one.
The launch marked a significant move for the company, which at the time said Arla Squeeze would be a key part of its strategy to build awareness of the Arla ‘master brand’ among theBritish public. It wanted to increase awareness of the Arla brand from 0% in 2010 to 60% by 2015, it claimed.
However, despite gaining listings in Morrisons, which also featured the product in its in-house magazine, Arla this week confirmed that Arla Squeeze was no longer available. “We will continue to work hard to find new and innovative products to introduce to the market,” a spokeswoman said.
Arla Squeeze (rsp: 80p for a 190g pack), which was available in pineapple & mango and strawberry & vanilla flavours. At launch, Arla said the “fun, brightly coloured and innovative packaging” would bridge the gap between children’s and adult yoghurts.
Arla Squeeze is the second yoghurt range to be scrapped after being launched and targeted at a very specific age group.
Last year, The Grocer reported that Müller had pulled its Stars sub-brand – which was targeted at four to eight-year-olds – after only seven months onshelf, blaming poorer-thanexpected sales. Müller had hoped it would fill a gap between its adult yoghurt portfolio and its Little Stars toddlers sub-brand, which continues to be on sale.
Although Arla Squeeze was the only Arla-branded yoghurt sold in the UK, Arla Foods retains a presence in the UK branded yoghurt market through its established Lactofree brand.
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