Siggi's ramps up product innovation with new and improved launches

"As a brand we're always looking to improve our offerings while staying true to our simple ingredients, lower sugar promise," said Siggi Hilmarsson, founder of Siggi's. Siggi's 4% coffee skyr (SRP $1.69) contains 13g of protein and 8g of sugar per serving and is a completely new flavor for the brand as well as the first coffee yogurt on the market to use arabica cold brew as a main ingredient, the company claimed. Siggi's is also relaunching its Simple Sides line in 2% milkfat skyr (previously it was a 4% line) to broaden the appeal and improve the ability to stir the yogurt with the mix-in ingredients. With the relaunch each cup is 200 calories or fewer and filled with 15-16 grams of protein and 10-12 grams of sugar (SRP $1.99 per cup). The company added that its Simple Sides are the only products in the category with no-added-sugar 'mix-in' toppings such as almonds, coconut, cacoa nibs, and dried fruit. The introduction of 4-count multipacks was the natural next step for the Siggi's brand, according to Hilmarsson. "We've now grown so much that launching a 4-pack makes sense as we have so many consumers who are buying multiple cups a week and this is a more convenient offering for them," Hilmarsson said. First available nationally at Whole Foods store in June, Siggi's lactose free whole milk skyr is available in multi-serve containers in plain and vanilla with 18g of protein and 5g of sugar per serving. Launching into multi-serve containers is not a typical way for Siggi's to launch a new product, but according to Siggi's CMO Heidi Dvorkin Krauss, this is " more incremental and less cannibalistic to the [single-serve cup] base business. "And you tend to also have very heavy users in plain and vanilla as well," she said. Patient approach to market While it may appear as a sudden wave of new product launches, according to Dvorkin Krauss, Siggi's has remained true to its slow and steady approach to market even as the company was forecasted to hit roughly $500m in retail sales last year along with operational and financial backing from parent company Lactalis, which acquired Siggi's for an undisclosed sum last year. "First and foremost, we’ve always taken a more patient approach to market. We’ve never been a company that’s very quickly thrown a lot of product out all at the same time," Dvorkin Krauss told FoodNavigator-USA. The path to market that's worked well for Siggi's is proving itself in the natural channel first in retailers such as Whole Foods where the brand has gained a base of loyal consumers and "brand fans" , and then expanding into more broad distribution in conventional retailers. One of its more recent product launches, the no-added sugar line, followed this formula when it first launched in January 2018. Becoming leader in no-added sugar yogurt "This is a product for more developed users, because we don’t want to just force our product out into broad distribution -- If it’s not the right consumer base, it’s not going to do well. We’ve been nurturing it slowly," said Dvorkin Krauss. Observing major market trends including consumers' increasing avoidance of sugar and the upcoming labeling deadline for added sugar on the Nutrition Facts panel, would seemingly make a no-added sugar skyr a safe bet, but Siggi's was still cautious in the beginning, shared Raji Iyer Margolin, senior director of marketing at Siggi's. Iyer Margolin shared that a no-added sugar yogurt was nearly non-existent at the time and also a new endeavor for Siggi's as the company had included small amounts of cane sugar in the rest of its portfolio (excluding plain flavor offerings). "No added sugar was launched in a more limited fashion in early 2018 in just a few accounts and it did significantly better than expectations," said Iyer Margolin. The sweetness of the Siggi's no-added sugar line comes from the addition of real fruit in its raspberry & apple and banana & cinnamon flavors. "Some of the no added sugar products are actually trending on par with the regular sugar and whole milk SKUs," added Dvorkin Krauss. Available nationally at Whole Foods, Siggi's has been ramping up distribution for its no-added sugar products to other national accounts including Kroger banners.