3 - DAVID BARBER, president, Blue Hill (Savory yogurt): ‘We wanted to be different’
With every man and his dog bringing out a Greek yogurt to cash in on the sector’s meteoric growth, Blue Hill president David Barber wanted to do something a bit different, and three months after launching his savory yogurts on an unsuspecting market, it looks like his gamble has paid off.
The yogurts - made with milk from 100% grass-fed cows - come in butternut squash, beet, carrot, tomato, sweet potato, and parsnip variants, and are now available in three Whole Foods Market regions and specialty grocers in the Northeast.
Made with 30% or more vegetable puree (whereas most fruit yogurts only contain around 6% fruit puree), the yogurts are blended (no big chunks or carrot or beet) and far less sugary than most yogurts on the market.
And just three months after hitting shelves, they are already proving to be a hit, says Barber.
“We didn’t want to bring out another Greek or fruit yogurt; we wanted to be different. Ours have a fraction of the sugar, but are only slightly less sweet than regular yogurt because you’ve got the natural sweetness from the vegetables. They are slightly higher in salt, but the trade-off is worth it. The veggies also act as a great preservative.”
So are other savory yogurts likely to follow Blue Hill’s lead?
It’s likely, predicts Barber. “We know a lot of yogurt companies are paying a lot of attention to our products and I’d anticipate people will dip their toes in the water if they haven’t already.
“But there is plenty of room in the market. There is just so much potential because US consumers still only eat around a third of the yogurt that Europeans do, and we’d like to see the category grow with less sweet products.”
Click here to read our interview with David.