Danone to Debut Coconut Milk Oikos Yogurt Next Month

In January, Danone will launch a coconut milk-based version of its popular Oikos yogurt, before the debut of a kid-friendly plant-based yogurt later in 2019. Danone North America CEO Mariano Lozano explained that the company is capitalizing on the growth of the plant-based industry with the new product launch. While the plant-based yogurt category currently only makes up two percent of the market share, Lazano expects it to reach up to 10 percent in coming years. “It’s becoming hotter and hotter in the market,” Lozano said. “It’s very linked to the flexitarian trend.” In 2016, Danone closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of WhiteWave Foods—parent company of vegan brands Silk, Vega, Alpro, and So Delicious. In June, Francisco Camacho, executive vice president of the dairy and plant-based division at Danone, announced the company’s intent to develop dairy-free alternatives of its flagship brands Actimel and Activia with the aim of taking “plant-based to the max.”