Meaning ‘wonderful’ in Finnish, the dessert-style Ihana features a range of sorbet-style flavor combinations such as pink lemonade and papaya & lime.
Betina Karvinen, brand and category manager at Arla Foods, said, “Finland is very innovative when it comes to the dairy industry and has previously seen trends travel across markets to benefit Arla’s growth. Our successful protein range began as a Finnish initiative born out of consumer trends and we have seen that become one of Arla’s most successful brands, so we certainly have the same aspirations for Ihana."
“Being able to roll out successful brands into new markets and share innovation with other countries is a key focus for Arla as part of its ongoing strategy and growth,” Karvinen added.
Collaborative approach
Expansion and growth in yogurts is an important part of Arla’s Good Growth strategy. Following the announcement of the Calcium transformation program, which aims to create more efficiencies in the business, one goal is to reduce complexity across the business.
Arla said Ihana packaging will be shared across markets as the teams become more collaborative, and that this approach will play a crucial role in the company’s future development.
In addition to the new market rollouts, product innovation will also continue as the brand looks to move further away from the breakfast associations of yogurt.
Having just launched a lemon pie variant in Finland, there are further plans to move into a range of dessert-style products with the aim of adding incremental growth to the category and engage more consumers in enjoying yogurt for multiple occasions.
Expanding offerings
In the UK, the launch of the Ihana range marks the next step in Arla’s ambition to expand its offering across the different sub-categories within yogurts.
James Quayle, brand manager for Arla yogurts UK, said the Ihana brand is intended to offer something new and different to the existing options within the luxury yogurts market, primarily driven by the “sorbet style.”
“This is based on the insight that consumers are looking for flavor inspiration and new eating experiences within yogurts,” Quayle said.
“Arla’s ambition is to role the range out across the UK retail market over the course of 2018-2019 and a view to expanding the number of variants in line with the other market offerings once the brand is established.”