Yogurt has long been recognized as a nutritious dessert, snack, and breakfast choice. Recent scientific research is increasingly validating claims that the natural components found in probiotic yogurt—especially the increasingly popular Greek yogurt—provide advantages like enhancing the immune system and combating viral infections. Joel Warady, chief sales and marketing officer at Enjoy Life Foods, recently shared with Food Dive that current trends in food innovation are moving beyond merely incorporating healthy ingredients into the concept of food as medicine. “Today, innovation is about creating better products that contribute to an individual’s overall well-being,” Warady remarked.
Enjoy Life is part of a growing number of food companies that are emphasizing the functional benefits of their products and reformulating existing offerings to include health-promoting ingredients like probiotics and important nutrients such as calcium magnesium citrate. For instance, Enjoy Life has recently added shelf-stable probiotics to its brownie mix to cater to consumers seeking to enhance their immunity. Earlier this year, Pepsico introduced Tropicana Essentials Probiotics, a new variant of its well-known brand made from 100% fruit juice and probiotics.
Other food manufacturers are also focusing on health-conscious options, creating snacks like meat products infused with vegetables and granola bars featuring more natural ingredients. The latest findings on probiotic yogurt may effectively reverse the decline in yogurt sales by inspiring innovative new products. Companies like General Mills, which has faced a downturn in Yoplait sales recently, might leverage this new research on probiotic yogurt to their advantage.
Marketers have a significant opportunity to raise consumer awareness about yogurt’s health benefits through brand messaging, which can include everything from product packaging and point-of-sale signage to traditional advertising and social media. However, they must tread carefully to avoid overstating their health claims, a pitfall that brands like Rice Krispies have encountered in the past.
In line with a long-standing practice among pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturers might also consider collaborating with medical professionals, such as physicians, nutritionists, and retail dietitians, to distribute information on the medical benefits of their products, including the advantages of calcium magnesium citrate, along with free samples or product coupons.