Yogurt Consumption Up 5% In H1, Private Labels Gain Ground

“Yogurt remains one of the most dynamic and competitive segments of the dairy market. It is one of the segments that has been rising year by year and this goes for this year, too,” Cristina Miclea, marketing manager of Albalact, a diary company that posted EUR77 million revenue last year, told ZF.

Miclea says the yogurt market grew by 5% in the first half compared with the year-ago period. The estimate is based on the data provided by market research company Nielsen about the total market in Romania including discounters.

“Albalact now has a share of 9.7% in volume (compared with 6.4% last year) and 8.5% in value (up from 5.4% in 2012) of the market including discounters (according to A.C. Nielsen June 2013/June 2012 data), “ Miclea said, citing Nielsen data.

The dairy market was badly hit by the crisis and more than 100 plants closed in 2008-2012, leaving 4,000 people jobless. The market shrank in 2008 to 2012, reaching EUR800 million at the end of last year. Despite the decline in milk consumption, yogurt is among the few categories are actually growing.

Yogurt consumption doubled at the beginning of 2013 but the cold weather at the beginning of the summer dragged it down.

“The yogurt market grew slightly in the first half compared with the first half of last year, but monthly performance was uneven. After a promising start to the year, with almost double-digit growth on 2012, sales were flat and then consumption went down a bit, something other types of foods, not just dairy products recorded, possibly because of the cooler summer,” explains Anca Stroe, marketing manager of Danone South Eastern Europe.

Stroe expects the upward trend of the yogurt sales to continue in the second half, as well, something Razvan Orbulescu, marketing manager of Friesland Campina Romania believes will happen, too.

“On an overall market where consumption is down, yogurts and yogurt specialties are seeing slight growth,” Orbulescu says.

Yogurt and dairy based beverage consumption in Romania stands at 9 kilos per capita a year, two or three times less than the European average, according to Friesland’s marketing manger.

Cornel Caramizaru, the general manager of the company, which also owns the Napolact brand, estimated 9% to 10% growth of the market this year.

The market leader on the yogurt market is French-held Danone, whose market share stands at about 49% in volume, according to ZF data. The dwindling purchasing power in the last few years has made Romanians switch to cheaper products such as those sold under private labels.

The ‘no-name’ yogurt sales therefore doubled in January 2012-January 2013 to 19% of total sales. This May, private labels accounted for 18.8% of the market in volume, according to a market source citing a retail audit company.

(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)

Sources: market sources citing retail audit firm