Starbucks Coffee has already joined the tea game and the healthy drinks game, and now it’s targeting yogurt.
Banking on a shift to healthier living as it did with the Evolution Fresh brand (by the guy who invented Naked Juice), the company has announced a new partnership with Dannon.
If that name sounds familiar, that’s because the company created the Dannon line of products.
The new Starbucks yogurt will be called “Evolution Fresh, inspired by Dannon ” and it will be placed next to the Evolution Fresh’s juice and other healthy living products.
According to Danone CEO Franck Riboud:
“With the fast-growing but still low-penetration yogurt category, the U.S. remains a key growth opportunity for Danone.”
The first Starbucks yogurt “inspired” by Dannon will be released next year. The first product will be a “ready-to-eat Greek yogurt parfait.”
If all goes as planned, Dannon and Starbucks will start selling the Evolution Fresh yogurt line in retail stores by 2015.
Dannon controls approximately 30 percent of the US yogurt market, a number that is likely to increase thanks to its new partnership with thousands of national Starbucks locations.
The real question will be whether or not customers will flock to the Starbucks yogurt. The company is already known for outlandish prices, and, let’s be honest, Dannon yogurt isn’t exactly the cream of the crop when it comes to store bought yogurt options.
Do you think Starbucks customers will flock to the Evolution Fresh yogurt brand, or will Starbucks find itself with a lot of spoiled dairy products?