Yoplait reformulates Petits Filous and Frubes with lower sugar

Yoghurt experts Yoplait have kicked off the new year with two new reformulated recipes on their leading kid’s brands, Petits Filous and Frubes, to ensure the products are even healthier, yet still retain the same delicious taste.

Since 2015, Yoplait has improved the health credentials of its kids’ portfolio by reducing sugars by 25 per cent. The kids’ yoghurt company has been driving the sugar reduction progress within the yoghurt category and was applauded by Public Health England by helping the category to reduce overall sugars by 13 per cent.

“Petits Filous and Frubes are well-established and much-loved brands so it’s critical we take a gradual approach to our sugar reduction, and we have done so without resorting to adding thickeners, sweeteners, processed fibres or flavours, but our Mission is also to educate about the nutritional value of fortified kids’ yoghurts and bring lost consumers back into the category,” said Antoine Hours, General Manager of Yoplait UK.

“Last year we launched a report which highlighted that over one million children in the UK were at risk of poor development and growth because they were lacking key nutrients such as Vitamin D, Calcium and Iodine, all of which are found in fortified kids’ yoghurts. We outlined a ten-year decline in consumption of kids yoghurts and alarmingly, our insights showed that parents were switching from kids’ yoghurts into biscuits, cakes and confectionary.”

The yoghurts and dairy desserts category contributes a small, 4.5 per cent of the daily free sugar intake of 4-10 year olds and in contrast, more than 50 per cent of free sugars in this age group comes from confectionary, cakes/biscuits and sugar-sweetened drinks, all of which are low in essential nutrients and all categories who have done little to reformulate.

Yoplait will continue with its education and awareness campaign into 2025 and its kids’ brands will continue to drive relevance and excitement with consumers. Petits Filous is this month rolling out a fresh new-look which dials up the health credentials of the brand with a focus on bone health and Frubes is running an on-pack promotion offering a once in a lifetime family trip to Japan, a first for the kids’ yoghurt category.

“If we are able to re-educate about the positive nutritional benefits, showcase our brands to consumers and encourage them to switch back, we have identified a potential £150m sales opportunity for retailers over the next five years,” added Hours.