Yoplait tries again to answer consumer demand for more protein, less sugar

For 50 years, Yoplait set the standard for what yogurt tastes like for millions of Americans.

With its latest offering — a high-protein, low-sugar variety — the General Mills brand is trying to ensure that taste keeps up with nutritional trends.

Yoplait Protein launched this month with 15 grams of protein, 3 grams of sugar and “the creamy light texture consumers expect from Yoplait as a brand,” said Kerry DeLaney, head of dairy at General Mills.

It’s the Golden Valley-based food company’s latest attempt at a protein-packed option. Yoplait launched a similar high-protein, low-sugar brand called YQ five years ago — since discontinued — and has a high-protein Greek variety.

“We’ve been working several years on adding protein in a way that’s differentiated in the category,” DeLaney said. The brand uses ultra-filtered milk, which separates protein and milk sugars (lactose), just as YQ did.

Protein remains a selling point for shoppers seeking healthful options at the grocery store. Two-thirds of consumers are actively seeking it out, according to an International Food Information Council survey, and high-protein diets remain the most common for those following an eating plan.

A Cargill report last year found the nutrient is “well-positioned to continue its reign as a top dietary trend well into the future.”

“Others can be slightly sour and even chalky,” DeLaney said. “We feel like we’ve achieved what we call the trifecta: taste, value and nutrition.”

First brought to the U.S. in 1974, the French yogurt brand helped make yogurt a staple of many American refrigerators and morning routines. Over the past half-century, Americans went from consuming two pounds of yogurt per person to 14 pounds per person per year, according to federal data.

New stars rose in the yogurt aisle, like Chobani and Noosa, and the Greek yogurt craze took market share from Yoplait over the past decade. The brand, however, still resonates widely and is the second-best-seller, by units sold, in the country. It represents half of all traditional-style yogurt sales.

“The category is in a good place, and it’s a good business to be in,” DeLaney said.

Last year Americans spent more than $9.75 billion on yogurt, an increase of 9% the year before, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. But as with other groceries, much of that growth was driven by price increases — the total number of units sold fell 1%.