Annie’s is continuing to grow under the General Mills brand with the rollout of new yogurt products aimed at kids, marking the brand’s first entrance into the fresh dairy market.
According to the company, Annie’s customer surveys have shown that yogurt could be a strong seller. Unfortunately, the company didn’t have the bandwidth to expand its product line. Luckily, after its $820 million acquisition by General Mills, additional resources and support allowed for this expansion.
Speaking on this, the Star Tribune quotes Annie’s President John Foraker as saying, “Once we got hooked up with General Mills, [yogurt] was an obvious place to go. This is an example of where the leverage of General Mills makes Annie’s better.”
For the development of this new product, Annie’s worked with General Mills’ Yoplait division as well as the company’s R&D labs. Foraker told the Tribune that the resulting product is made from whole milk and fresh fruit and is being manufactured through Yoplait’s supply chain.
Annie’s yogurt comes in two versions: organic and organic “grass-fed,” which refers to dairy cows that feed on pasture only.
Aside from the yogurt, Annie’s has seen another first through its relationship with General Mills. This month, two varieties of Annie’s bunny graham crackers debuted in schools, a major customer for General Mills’ foodservice division.
With all of these firsts, it’s exciting to see what new products might come down the pipeline.
