Yogurt Wars Bring New Products as Dannon Combats General Mills

General Mills claims it has overtaken Dannon Co. in the $1.78 billion yogurt market, according to a report from Advertising Age. Arch foe Dannon refuted the claim, citing alternative data backing its position. The real news is that the French Dannon's U.S. unit has seen its lead eroded by General Mills' in recent years and is now fighting back with a reformulated, repackaged Dannon Light product that bows July 26, and an accompanying advertising campaign. The company also will test two new products, a drinkable yogurt for kids and a dairy-based nutritional supplement.

General Mill's Yoplait and Colombo brands have stolen much of Dannon's market thunder while Dannon was undergoing a reorganization that left it without a marketing vice president for two years. New flavors were introduced, but new lines lagged as General Mills got the jump on the children's market, said Ad Age, with Trix yogurt, an extension of its children's cereal brand; Yoplait Adventure Pack; and the recent Go-Gurt yogurt-in-a-tube.

Now, General Mills claims its combined Yoplait and Colombo sales overtook Dannon on a volume basis of unit sales in fiscal year 1999 based on ACNielsen Corp. data. Dannon cites Information Resources Inc., data and says General Mills' claim is irrelevant since units are packaged in different sizes and prices vary widely.

Dannon's new dietary supplement, Actimel, will be shipped to retailers in Arizona and Denver later this month. The supplement is said to be clinically proven to "fortify" the body's "natural defenses.'' The product, designed to be consumed every morning, already is marketed in Europe. Dannon also is testing a drinkable version of Danimals kids' yogurt in Florida and Michigan.