Described as a “thick and creamy, subtly sweet, fresh-tasting yogurt made with non-GMO ingredients,” new Oui by Yoplait uses a recipe and glass yogurt jar package that are inextricably linked. The French-style yogurt, which brand owner General Mills hopes will be strongly embraced by U.S. consumers, was inspired by the company’s Yoplait Saveur d’Autrefois yogurt (translated “taste of yesteryear”) sold exclusively in France for the last 20 years.
Key to the product’s unique, creamy texture—which Senior Associate Marketing Manager for the brand Amanda Vaal says “can be cut with a spoon”—is the process employed to produce it. Unlike the standard U.S. method of making yogurt, where the ingredients are cultured in large batches and then filled into individual cups fully prepared, French-style Oui by Yoplait is made by pouring the ingredients into pots, or glass jars, supplied by O-I, and allowing the contents of each pot to set and culture for eight hours.
Explains Vaal, “The rigidity of the glass helps maintain the yogurt’s integrity and enables the yogurt to stabilize without the use of added cornstarch or gelatin.” Oui by Yoplait is made with simple ingredients, such as whole milk, pure cane sugar, real fruit, and yogurt cultures and contains no artificial preservatives or flavors, and uses no colors from artificial sources.
Scaling up the pot-set process at one of its Reed City, MI, yogurt plants required General Mills to purchase new equipment as well as leverage new capabilities, although it declined to share details. Says Doug Martin, Director of Yoplait for General Mills, “It’s the simplest way to make yogurt, but it’s also the hardest to do at scale. We’re really going back and embracing the way yogurt was made in the past.”
