Danone Dairies is planning to extend its healthy yogurt and drink portfolio in the UK into new functional areas, one of which is likely to be energy.
At the moment the company’s four key brands - Actimel, Activia, Shape and the recently launched Danacol - promise different functional benefits relating to immunity, digestion, weight and cholesterol respectively.
Danone Dairies UK MD Marc Gosselin confirmed the company was assessing new areas. He said: “We’re looking across the health benefits. Our knowledge is of milk and cultures. We want to keep it simple. It’s about one brand, one benefit. In other countries we’ve launched products linked to energy.”
However, in terms of dairy products, it would not be looking beyond its yogurt and drink base.
He said: “You’ll never see Actimel in a yellow fat variety.”
Neither would it consider anything outside the functional food remit, he said. “It’s food, we don’t want it to be seen as medicine.”
The new launches, expected in the second half of next year, follow the refurbishment of Danone’s famous blue and red logo. The font has been changed, the colours lightened and the red swish that represented a spoon replaced with a new one that depicts a smile. Gosselin said: “The previous logo was 15 years old. We wanted something less corporate and cold. Danone is about health and we wanted to see a healthy body inside that is shown on the outside.”
Transition to the new logo would be complete by next March, Gosselin said.
He added that he expected the company to end the year with a 40% year-on-year increase in its share of the UK dairy market.
Danone also plans to launch a new four-pack variety of fig-flavoured Activia and a Shape flavoured water early next year as well as a new lower calorie Shape yogurt with no added sugar in the spring.
This is the first picture of the brand that Walkers hopes will bag it an even bigger share of kids’ snacking repertoire. As revealed in The Grocer (November 13, p52), the new crisps contain no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and 70% less saturated fat than Walkers standard crisps. They come in Ready Salted and Cheese & Onion flavours (rsp: 28p for a 23g bag) plus a variety of multi-pack formats. The brand will be available from January 2.
Liz Hamson
At the moment the company’s four key brands - Actimel, Activia, Shape and the recently launched Danacol - promise different functional benefits relating to immunity, digestion, weight and cholesterol respectively.
Danone Dairies UK MD Marc Gosselin confirmed the company was assessing new areas. He said: “We’re looking across the health benefits. Our knowledge is of milk and cultures. We want to keep it simple. It’s about one brand, one benefit. In other countries we’ve launched products linked to energy.”
However, in terms of dairy products, it would not be looking beyond its yogurt and drink base.
He said: “You’ll never see Actimel in a yellow fat variety.”
Neither would it consider anything outside the functional food remit, he said. “It’s food, we don’t want it to be seen as medicine.”
The new launches, expected in the second half of next year, follow the refurbishment of Danone’s famous blue and red logo. The font has been changed, the colours lightened and the red swish that represented a spoon replaced with a new one that depicts a smile. Gosselin said: “The previous logo was 15 years old. We wanted something less corporate and cold. Danone is about health and we wanted to see a healthy body inside that is shown on the outside.”
Transition to the new logo would be complete by next March, Gosselin said.
He added that he expected the company to end the year with a 40% year-on-year increase in its share of the UK dairy market.
Danone also plans to launch a new four-pack variety of fig-flavoured Activia and a Shape flavoured water early next year as well as a new lower calorie Shape yogurt with no added sugar in the spring.
This is the first picture of the brand that Walkers hopes will bag it an even bigger share of kids’ snacking repertoire. As revealed in The Grocer (November 13, p52), the new crisps contain no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and 70% less saturated fat than Walkers standard crisps. They come in Ready Salted and Cheese & Onion flavours (rsp: 28p for a 23g bag) plus a variety of multi-pack formats. The brand will be available from January 2.
Liz Hamson
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