France's Carrefour to launch Reducol-containing yoghurts
march though European supermarkets with the launch of
cholesterol-lowering yoghurts at Carrefour-owned Champion in
France.
Derived from pine wood, Reducol has already been used in own-brand products in leading UK supermarket Tesco, Finland's Kesko, and The Netherlands' Albert Heijn.
In Champion, the ingredient is being used in a range of yoghurt products under Carrefour's Agir Nutrition brand. The price point is not known, but Carrefour's states that it aims to be "number one on price".
In the other European supermarkets products with Reducol have come in cheaper than market leading brands such as Benecol - and thus are available for people who are unwilling or unable to pay the premium that such value-added products often command.
"At Champion, we are committed to providing consumers with the products they demand, and with the growing popularity of heart health products we felt it was a natural progression to offer these great tasting cholesterol-lowering products with Reducol," said Champion spokesperson Sylvain Ferry.
With its Agir brand, Carrefour taps into consumer food trends. In addition to Agir Nutrition, aimed at people who want to adopt a specific food regime in response to health concerns, it also has Agir Bio (organic), Agir Solidarité (fair trade), and Agir Ecoplanète.
Forbes has worked with UK-based Fayrefield foods to develop food products using Reducol. As well as margarines and yoghurts, Fayrefield has come up with novel ideas such as a cheddar-like cheese.
But when it comes to product types that will be accepted in different countries, it's horses for courses. In France, the land that prides itself on its 400 different kinds of cheese, they may be on safer ground sticking with yoghurts.
