Danone’s flagship spoonable yoghurt, typically sold with soft digestive health benefits in 68 countries around the world, is part of a series of yoghurt and fresh dairy products Danone-Murray Goulburn aims to launch in Australia, according to press reports.
Activia will be marketed mainly to bloated Australian women, after Danone scrutinised research from the firm Galaxy that revealed, “two out of three Australian women feel fat, lethargic and lack confidence as a result of stomach bloating”.
A youtube campaign has been launched to back the launch. View some of that here.
Activia nutritionist, Zoe Bingley-Pullin, said Australia had one of the highest rates of digestive disorders in the world, with rates as high as 90% among women, and 80% for men.
“With an overwhelming number of Australian men and women suffering from some kind of digestive disorder such as feeling bloated, Danone is excited to launch Activia yoghurt in Australia,” she said.
“Activia is backed by 17 published scientific studies and contains an exclusive probiotic, Bifidus Actiregularis, which is proven to assist with digestive discomfort such as feeling bloated.”
While risk assessors like the European Food Safety Authority are yet to validate probiotic health claims like these, prompting Danone to withdraw its claims from the process, sales of Activia and versions of its drinking yoghurt continue to rise in many European and Asian markets, along with North America.
Innova Market Insights puts Australian and New Zealand yoghurt consumption at around 7kg per annum, compared to 11kg in western Europe and 22kg in the Netherlands.
At the time the joint venture was announced, Murray Goulburn Co-operative’s managing director Stephen O’Rourke stated: “MG’s partnership with Danone leverages our complementary strengths and will enable both companies to enter the Australian yoghurt market with confidence.”
Probiotech, Milan, June 23-24
For the latest developments with real market relevance in pre- and probiotic science, formulation, markets and marketing places are still available at Probiotech in Milan, Italy, on June 23-24.
Leading academics, analysts, regulatory and industry experts will share their know-how in areas like probiotic films, animal feed, genonomics, pharma formulations.
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