Yogurt on Pepsi's Radar
PepsiCo said that it will sell “European style” premium yogurt in the U.S. market later this month, both companies disclosed.
The joint venture, dubbed as Muller Quaker dairy, will sell three varieties of yogurts: Muller Corner, Muller Greek Corner and Muller FrutUp.
For both companies this is a first attempt to enter the U.S. dairy market. Last year, PepsiCo bought Russia’s biggest dairy company, Wimm-Bill-Dann, for $5.8 billion.
The two companies also announced their plans to build a yogurt manufacturing plant in Batavia, N.Y., which is expected to be completed in 2013. The plant is likely to create more than 180 new jobs in upstate New York, according to the joint venture.
Commenting over the deal, Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo’s chief scientific officer said in a statement, "As we've seen through the success of our dairy business in other parts of the world, this is a category with strong growth prospects."
"There is no better partner PepsiCo could have in order to meet historic U.S. consumer demand for premium yogurt," he added.
Stefan Muller, a board member at Theo Muller, sounded confident over the deal as he said, “Our partnership with PepsiCo is a great expansion of our business, and we are excited to introduce new consumers to the wide variety of deliciously enjoyable yogurts that have made Muller a household name throughout Europe.”
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