Innocent is hoping to replicate its smoothies success with a move to the dairy aisle in its first venture beyond the chilled juice fixture, The Grocer can reveal.

The fast-growing brand is launching three 'thickies' in 750ml plastic bottles, backed with a £1m campaign, in a bid to grab £5m of the drinking yoghurt category within a year. The launch, targeted at adults, is intended to take on brands such as Yop and Frijj, which dominate the £85m category.

The flavours, two of which already exist in its on-the-go 250ml bottles, were a first for the dairy category because they offered indulgence, and health benefits, with the quality associated with Innocent, the company said. "There's a real gap around healthy indulgence within dairy," commercial director Giles Brook told The Grocer. "There are the healthy options, which aren't indulgent, then you have the more indulgent, but they aren't particularly healthy and contain added sugars and stabilisers. We dont't think any other brand has our positioning."

The play for the dairy market comes after a year of research, which showed consumers expected yoghurt drinks to be located in the dairy fixture. As a result of refocusing on dairy, 65% of people who do not normally buy Innocent, would now consider it, Brook predicted. "We want to bring the dairy category alive in a similar way to smothies. We will have more innovation coming through in dairy, whether that be for kids or adults."

The range will go into multiples from April, although listings have not been finalised.

The dairy category grew 8% last year, but drinking yoghurts were up 12%, said Brook, who added that the key focus for future innovation for Innocent was in three areas: fruit & vegetables, dairy and wholegrain.

The £131.4m company added £46m to its sales in the year to December, with the brand accounting for 98% of the growth in the smoothies, claimed Brook.

The £2.99 price tag for the 750ml bottles is significantly higher than Yop's £1.50 and Frijj's £1. However, it is cheaper per ml than Innocent's 250ml £1.99 offer.

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