Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Products covered in this Report
- Definition
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- Figure 1: Mintel’s definition of different income groups, China
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Ambient yogurt driving growth of the whole category
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- Figure 2: Retail market value and volume of yogurt and yogurt drinks, China, 2013-17
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- Figure 3: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail yogurt market, by value, China, 2012-22
- Spoonable yogurt tapping into snacking occasion
- Key players
- Competition among ambient yogurt brands getting red hot
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- Figure 4: Leading companies’ share of retail yogurt market, China, 2015 and 2016
- Increasing impact of niche spoonable yogurt brands
- Taking advantage of on-pack cues
- The consumer
- Ambient yogurt maintains advantage
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- Figure 5: Usage of yogurt and yogurt drinks in the last three months, China, May 2017
- Yili’s fame largely comes from Ambrosial
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- Figure 6: Yogurt brand penetration, China, May 2017
- Morning occasion is as important as evening
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- Figure 7: Occasion of yogurt consumption, China, May 2017
- Healthy version does not equal deprivation of all pleasure
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- Figure 8: Ideal yogurt (sweetness and fat content), China, May 2017
- Fruit and cereals are the most sought-after added ingredients
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- Figure 9: Ideal yogurt (added ingredients), China, May 2017
- Quantity is more valued than variety when it comes to probiotics
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- Figure 10: Opportunities of premiumisation, China, May 2017
- Skyr can be positioned as an upgraded version of Greek yogurt
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- Figure 11: Perception (nutrition-related) of select types of yogurt/yogurt drinks, China, May 2017
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Enhanced yogurt targeting fitness lovers
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 12: Products with fitness-related on-pack cues, Norway, Costa Rica and Brazil, 2016-17
- Driving relevance amongst different consumer segments
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 13: Products featuring high calcium with occasion association, Malaysia, South Korea and UK, 2015-16
- Figure 14: Spoonable products with fruit bits, featuring “no additives” claim, China, 2017
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- Figure 15: Yili products with English names only, China, 2016
- Opportunity of ambient spoonable flavoured yogurt
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 16: Weidendorf ambient yogurt communicating its quality milk source, China, 2017
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- Figure 17: Pascual ambient spoonable yogurt with less common fruit bits, China, 2017
- Figure 18: Imported products targeting specific consumer groups, China, 2016-17
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Ambient yogurt is the main growth-driven factor
- Snacking occasion encourages purchase for self-pampering
- Extension of imported brands – From ambient milk to ambient yogurt
Market Size and Forecast
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- Strong growth of the category despite slowing down upward trend
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- Figure 19: Retail market value and volume of yogurt and yogurt drinks, China, 2013-17
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- Figure 20: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail yogurt market, by value, China, 2012-22
- Encouraging consumption in new occasions to push volume growth
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- Figure 21: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail yogurt market, by volume, China, 2012-22
Market Segmentation
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- Major players investing heavily in ambient yogurt
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- Figure 22: New flavours of Yili, Mengniu and Bright’s ambient yogurt brands, China, 2016-17
- Figure 23: Proportion of unflavoured drinking yogurt and liquid cultured milk, China, 2014-16
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- Figure 24: Best- and worst-case forecast of drinking/cultured yogurt segment, by value, China, 2012-22
- Ambient lactobacillus drink growing faster than chilled variants
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- Figure 25: Lactobacillus drinks with L/N/R sugar claims, China, 2016
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- Figure 26: Lactobacillus drink with packaging resembling yogurt, China, 2016-17
- Both flavoured and unflavoured spoonable yogurt seeing growth
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- Figure 27: Top three flavours of spoonable yogurt, China, 2014-16
- Figure 28: Unflavoured spoonable yogurt highlights authenticity and pureness, China, 2016
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- Figure 29: Best- and worst-case forecast of spoonable natural yogurt segment, by value, China, 2012-22
- Figure 30: Best- and worst-case forecast of spoonable flavoured yogurt segment, by value, China, 2012-22
Market Drivers
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- Product innovation around snacking concept expanding consumption
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- Figure 31: Wei-Chuan “Fang Si Dian” and “Man Zu Dian”, China, 2017
- Figure 32: Yoplait’s advertisement in metro station in Shanghai, China, 2017
- Germany leading the growth of imported yogurt
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- Figure 33: Import volume of yogurt in the Chinese market, by country, 2015 and 2016
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Ambient yogurt helps major players remain competitive
- Building association with more occasions encourages further consumption
- Flavour exploration and packaging optimisation drives premiumness
Market Share
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- Leading player’s growth driven by ambient yogurt
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- Figure 34: Leading companies’ share of retail yogurt market, China, 2015 and 2016
- Figure 35: Mengniu Just Yogurt’s limited edition packaging featuring hit talk show Qi Pa Shuo, China, 2017
- Decline of chilled lactobacillus drinks affecting Wei-Chuan
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- Figure 36: New launch of select dairy enterprises, China, 2015-17
- Geographic expansion of niche brands
- Imported products becoming competitive
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- Figure 37: Arla Yoggi claim to have 26% more protein than regular in its ambient yogurt, China, 2017
- Potential of plant-based yogurt
Competitive Strategies
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- Indulgence delivered by enriched dairy flavours
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- Figure 38: Cheese-flavoured spoonable yogurt, China, 2017
- Figure 39: Yogurt products featuring cream or dessert flavours, China, 2017
- New approaches on occasion association
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- Figure 40: Just Yogurt and Yoplait’s cooperation with Ele.me, China, 2017
- Figure 41: Products giving occasion-related cues on packaging, China, 2016-17
- Promoting yogurt as cooking ingredient
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- Figure 42: Le Pur tapping into in-home cooking occasion, China, 2017
- Figure 43: Stonyfield Double Cream Plain Yogurt, US, 2017
- Packaging communicates premiumness and quality
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- Figure 44: New packaging of Ambrosial, China, 2017
- Figure 45: Products featuring simplistic packaging, China, 2016-17
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- Figure 46: Products featuring milk bottle or milk can on packaging, US and China, 2016-17
- Figure 47: Multi-layered yogurt products with see-through packaging, Canada, France and UK, 2016-17
Who’s Innovating?
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- Active innovation in the Chinese market
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- Figure 48: The top three countries that contribute the most in new launches in yogurt and yogurt drinks, 2012/13-2016/17
- Figure 49: Proportion of new launches among dairy sub-categories, China, 2012-16
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- Figure 50: Trend of select claims in yogurt, China, 2014-16
- Figure 51: Products with no cane sugar or no-fat claims, China, 2017
- Increasing protein content in the yogurt category
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- Figure 52: Share of products with high-protein claim among all new launches, China, 2014-2017
- Figure 53: Protein content of yogurt new launches, China, 2012-17
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- Figure 54: High-protein product claim to be a source of daily energy provider, China, 2016
- Fruit flavours dominating, while cereal rising
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- Figure 55: Top flavour components in new launches of yogurt and yogurt drinks, China, 2014-16
- Figure 56: Products featuring flavour combination of fruit and cereal, China, 2017
- Beauty benefits brought by certain ingredients
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- Figure 57: Yogurt or yogurt drink claiming to have beauty benefits, Japan and China, 2016-17
- Yogurt brands extending into snacks
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- Figure 58: Yogurt brands’ snack products, Norway and US, 2012 and 2017
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Ambient yogurt is popular in breakfast occasion
- Consumers still need a bit of pleasure
- More education on Skyr’s nutrition value is necessary in marketing
Usage of Yogurt and Yogurt Drinks
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- Ambient yogurt remains popular
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- Figure 59: Usage of yogurt and yogurt drinks in the last three months, China, May 2017
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- Figure 60: Change of usage frequency of yogurt and yogurt drinks, China, 2016 and 2017
- Ambient yogurt could have attracted more females in their thirties
- Chilled lactobacillus drinks are gaining middle-aged consumers
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- Figure 61: Change of daily chilled lactobacillus drink consumption, by age, China, 2016 vs 2017
- Young females favour chilled spoonable yogurt
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- Figure 62: Everyday user of yogurt and yogurt drinks among youth, by gender and age, China, May 2017
Yogurt Brand Penetration
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- Most of Yili’s fame comes from Ambrosial
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- Figure 63: Yogurt brand penetration, China, May 2017
- Parent brand name speaks louder to males aged 30-39
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- Figure 64: Sub-brand penetration, by gender and age, China, May 2017
- Yili has successfully built its reputation in the South
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- Figure 65: Parent brand penetration, by region, China, May 2017
Occasion of Yogurt Consumption
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- Ambient yogurt as part of breakfast
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- Figure 66: Occasion of yogurt consumption, China, May 2017
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- Figure 67: Occasion of yogurt consumption, by consumption preference, China, May 2017
- Convenient solution for young males; indulgence for young females
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- Figure 68: Types of occasion of yogurt consumption, by gender and age, China, May 2017
- Different habits across tier one cities
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- Figure 69: Occasion of yogurt consumption, by city, China, May 2017
Ideal Yogurt
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- Chilled yogurt is better received than chilled milk
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- Figure 70: Ideal yogurt (temperature when serving), by gender, China, May 2017
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- Figure 71: Ideal yogurt (temperature when serving), by preferred added ingredients, China, May 2017
- No need to take away all the pleasure
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- Figure 72: Ideal yogurt (sweetness and fat content), China, May 2017
- Figure 73: Meiji’s new low-fat version of its spoonable yogurt, China, 2017
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- Figure 74: Ideal yogurt (sweetness), by preference on fat content, China, May 2017
- Figure 75: Weighted average percentage of preferred sweetness level, by gender, region, company type and consumer classification, China, May 2017
- Rich texture is most welcomed
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- Figure 76: Ideal yogurt (texture), China, May 2017
- Fruit and plant ingredients are popular
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- Figure 77: Ideal yogurt (added ingredients), China, May 2017
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- Figure 78: Ideal yogurt (added ingredients), by gender and age, China, May 2017
- Figure 79: Yogurt coming with cereal or nuts at convenience store and on-trade channel, China, 2017
- Majority of surveyed consumers prefer single-serve yogurt
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- Figure 80: Ideal yogurt (packaging size), China, May 2017
- Figure 81: Yogurt in large packaging with a special lid, China, 2017
Opportunities for Premiumisation
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- More shrewd consumers
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- Figure 82: Product features that are worth paying more for, China, 2015 and 2017
- Different premium features to target different demographic groups
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- Figure 83: Product features that are worth paying more for, China, May 2017
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- Figure 84: Ranking of product features that are worth paying more for, by gender and age, China, May 2017
- Figure 85: Change of Simple Love yogurt’s packaging, 2015 and 2017
- Consumers in Beijing and Guangzhou focus on functional benefits
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- Figure 86: Product features that are worth paying more for, by city, China, May 2017
- Chilled yogurt lovers have more sophisticated needs
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- Figure 87: Product features that are worth paying more for, by certain yogurt type consumers, China, May 2017
- Figure 88: Yoplait claims to use 100% of raw milk, China, 2017
Perception of Different Types of Yogurt and Yogurt Drinks
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- Skyr needs further awareness building
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- Figure 89: Awareness of different types of yogurt/yogurt drinks, China, May 2017
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- Figure 90: Siggi’s skyr with on-pack introduction on product features, US, 2017
- Figure 91: Perception on cooked/roasted yogurt, by city, China, 2017
- Consumers are clear with lactobacillus drink’s pros and cons
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- Figure 92: Perception (nutrition-related) of select types of yogurt/yogurt drinks, China, May 2017
- Lactobacillus drink has various target groups
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- Figure 93: Perception (target groups) of select types of yogurt/yogurt drinks, China, May 2017
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- Figure 94: General perception of select types of yogurt/yogurt drinks, China, May 2017
Meet the Mintropolitans
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- MinTs care less about sugar and fat content
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- Figure 95: Ideal yogurt (sweetness and fat content), by consumer classification, China, May 2017
- MinTs have more occasions for yogurt consumption
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- Figure 96: Occasion of yogurt consumption, by consumer classification, China, May 2017
- MinTs look more into protein and fibre
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- Figure 97: Opportunities for premiumisation, by consumer classification, China, May 2017
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 98: Value sales of China’s yogurt retail market, 2012-22
- Figure 99: Volume sales of China’s yogurt retail market, 2012-22
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Appendix – Market Segmentation
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- Figure 100: Value sales of China’s yogurt retail market, by segment, 2012-22
- Figure 101: Volume sales of China’s yogurt retail market, by segment, 2012-22
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Appendix – Methodology, Definition, and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Fan chart forecast
- Abbreviations
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