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Alpro ramps up activity on soya

By Fiona Briggs

New probiotic soya yogurt

Alpro is repositioning its soya brand in the face of fresh market competition from fruit juices and dairy products, which are being marketed on a healthy platform.

The brand, which is the leading player in the £86m dairy-free sector with a 60.8% market share, is aiming to appeal to a wider and more mainstream audience.

“For three to four years soya has been leading the way in terms of healthy drinks and healthy-type products,” said commercial director John Allaway. “ Now there’s a whole host of other products coming into the market.”

In response, Alpro is investing in a multi-million pound campaign geared to promoting the health benefits of its range of soya products. The activity includes TV advertising, new pack designs, the launch of a range of dairy-free probiotic yogurts, sampling and sponsorship of the Trees for Cities charity.

“Soya is spiralling towards mainstream,” said Allaway. “Health is something that consumers can latch onto – you can really get over to consumers the fact that soya is healthy.”

National TV advertising, featuring fresh rather than ambient products, will run between 11 September and 8 October and is geared to attracting new users into the market.

Soya currently has a penetration of 14% or 3.4m households and Alpro is in 2.7m households. The total dairy-free market, meanwhile, is growing by 15.9% (ACNielsen MAT April 2006) and Alpro is outperforming the category with 23.5% growth. However, the category is beginning to slow.

“We are trying to reinvigorate the market and get back on a high growth curve,” said Allaway. “It’s the most activity we’ve ever done but it’s what is needed in this marketplace.”

Alpro is introducing new pack designs across its product range with less of a clinical feel. The brand is also launching probiotic dairy-free yogurt and a new yogurt recipe with a reduced sugar and fat content.

“We are not leaders in innovation when it comes to dairy products,” said Allaway, “and we have been happy to jump on the back of the probiotic trend. But it’s a full overhaul of our yogurt range and we are quite excited about that – it will put us on the map in terms of yogurt.”

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