by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor
Greek yogurt is a relatively new addition to the U.S. dairy case. And, while it's a boon for sales as consumers add it to their diets, it comes at the expense of other dairy products, in particular, conventional yogurt.
Fage and Chobani originally defined the category, but market shares have begun to evolve as mainstream yogurt makers, Dannon (Oikos) and General Mills (Yoplait Greek), scurry to compete.
While specific share data is not routinely available, at least through mid-2013 Chobani has been acknowledged as the category leader with a market share between 40 and 50 percent, note Cornell University professors, in a dairy markets and policy research paper.
Fage was originally a strong, yet distant, second with approximately half as much market share as Chobani. Indications are that this past year, Dannon captured second place in the category, making strong gains with its three Greek brands.
The authors add that according to private industry reports, Chobani remains the leader, but Dannon challenges it for total company sales.
General Mills has been less successful at finding the right Greek formulation. This has been an important factor in Dannon replacing Yoplait as the leading yogurt brand. Total market shares in 2012 were 28 and 26 percent, respectively. In 2011, Yoplait enjoyed a leading 32 percent share of total yogurt sales, a year-over-year decline of 6 percent.
Other companies, Stonyfield, Cabot Farms and Greek Gods, have established a small but firm footing in the category. There continue to be new entrants, namely Alpina and the joint venture between PepsiCo and the Theo Müller Group (Müller Quaker Dairy).
