Last January, the ingredients supplier announced its Yo-Mix cultures range of yoghurt and fermented milk cultures were being launched globally following its success in China, the Middle East and North Africa.
Key benefits of the range, according to Danisco, include easy to use cultures for direct inoculation, controlled acidification profiles and a variety of textures and flavours.
Taste and texture preferences
The latest extension of the range is mainly focused on flavour profile differentiation of new cultures, Sonia Huppert global Yo-Mix business director told DairyReporter.com.
Taste varies across different markets, said Huppert, with some regions opting for strong yoghurt flavours, and others leaning towards plain, milky tastes.
Certain regions prefer sweet flavours, whereas others opt for salty, she said.
Texture preference also differs according to the region for stirred, set and drinking yoghurt, said the Yo-Mix business director.
Texture, as well as taste can be adapted to cater for market preferences, she said, varying from a thin water-like level, to a texture the thickness of stirred yoghurt.
In order to develop the Yo-Mix cultures to fit specific market demands, Danisco worked with regional and country specific application teams to select the best formulation using local ingredients, recipes, processes.
The teams focus directly on local needs to produce a globally focused range, but with a local knowledge edge, said Huppert.
The company then worked with local sensory panels to make sure the sensory profiles were meeting the local consumer needs, she added.
Drinking yoghurt growth
According to Euromonitor, drinking yoghurt represents a third of all yoghurt produced in the world, reaching more than 10800m tonnes in volume by 2015.
Drinking yoghurt represents the fastest growing yoghurt category within past years, with a CAGR significantly higher than spoonable yoghurt, said Euromonitor, a trend which is set to continue in the future.
“Drinking yoghurt can be a quick, easy and convenient product to consume, a healthy snack or even meal replacement which has become part of the daily diet in many countries around the world,” said Huppert.
“From salty to sweet, it offers a diverse consumer choice and the best opportunity to innovate within the dairy industry,” she added.