Yoplait launches new Yop range

Yoplait has expanded its Yop drinkable yoghurt brand for teens with a new chocolate variant.

Pitched as a “permissible treat”, the NPD joins Yop’s existing strawberry and raspberry variants, and will go on sale in Asda from 23 August.

Yoplait said the new variant contained no colouring and was “ideal for larger families and is great for portion control on the go”.

The product’s bottles are made from high density polyethelene (PEHD), which Yoplait said was the safest and “most commonly recycled plastic”.

“Teens love our fruit flavours as the ideal snack or lunchbox addition, so we’re confident they’ll enjoy our new, more indulgent chocolate variant,” said Joanna Goodman, head of marketing (northern Europe) at Yoplait’s current owner General Mills. The brand is in the process of being sold to French dairy co-op Sodiaal.

“Yop sales have increased by 12.6%, boosting household penetration by 72.6%. We’re confident there is a huge opportunity in the months ahead for dairy drinks, both at-home or whilst on the move as the on-the-go market starts to recover.”

It comes after the brand announced earlier this week it would shift the standard Yop range away from white PET plastic to clear PET from 2022.

Yoplait had come under criticism from comedian Joe Lycett over the recyclability of white PET earlier this summer. However, the supplier said it had been working on the packaging improvement in advance of his criticism, with the switch featured this week in his new Channel 4 consumer affairs show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back.