yoplait petits filous

Sales at Yoplait UK plunged by 9% last year as British consumers continued to move away from traditional yoghurt consumption.

Yoplait, which makes Petits Filous and Yop, saw sales drop 9% on a 12-month like-for-like basis for the period ending 29 May 2016, new accounts at Companies House have revealed.

Yoplait blamed “category slowdown” and changes to promotional strategies and market dynamics for the sales drop as consumers seek new formats and healthier options.

The Grocer’s Focus on Yoghurts this week found a total sales decline of 1% in value and 2.2% in volume in yoghurt and fromage frais. This was supported by strong growth in big pot formats and Greek yoghurt amid larger falls in more traditional categories.

A Yoplait spokesman said: “Growth in the yoghurt category has been slowing and sales of some of our products were adversely affected.

“We recognise consumer habits towards yoghurt consumption in the UK are evolving and through a consumer-first strategy we have diversified our portfolio with great success.”

Year-on-year comparisons for Yoplait UK are complicated by the extension of its accounting period to 13 months in 2015/16 to align with General Mills.

Therefore, overall sales only fell 2.2% to £139.7m in the 13 months to 29 May. Operating profits rose 14.1% to £28.5m driven by “trade management, commodity cost favourability and administrative efficiencies”.