Given consumers' focus on food that is both healthy and convenient, the yogurt market—particularly in the UK—is growing rapidly. According to a Mintel research report, sales of yogurt in the UK are expected to increase by 40 percent in the next five years—that's an estimated £2.25 billion (US$ 4.35 billion) by 2011.

Müller, a German-based line of yogurts and desserts, is one of the UK's leading yogurt brands. Founded in 1896 by Ludwig Müller in Bavaria, Germany, the Müller brand is today owned by the founder's grandson Theo Müller. The brand set up shop in the UK in 1986 and currently boasts a large number of yogurt sub-brands in its portfolio, including "virtually fat-free" Müllerlight, Müllerice rice pudding, and omega 3-rich Müller Vitality.

A visitor to the Müller website is greeted with the tagline "Lead a Müller life." The site's dominant color is red—reminiscent of the brand's identity. The homepage features a neatly arranged navigation menu and colorful images on a white background. The three main sections all feature "life": Taste Life, Enjoy Life, and Our Life.

The Taste Life section opens with a slideshow, backed by a catchy jingle (a remix of "I Got Life" from the musical Hair), showing people from varied backgrounds enjoying Müller yogurt. The Our Products sub-section is an extensive list of the Müller product range—each product category is more interestingly and informatively displayed online than one would find in the supermarket. The brand takes advantage of the interactive features of the web and highlights each of its product categories in ways that go beyond staid shelf display.

For example, in the Müllerlight section, visitors can virtually "taste" different varieties of yogurt. Moving the mouse over each image of a yogurt container "peels back" the foil top to reveal a brief description.

Müller Corner, which packages plain yogurt and a mix-in such as fruit into separate compartments in the same container, is one of the company's bestselling sub-brands. For its online presentation, the nearly two dozen varieties are introduced via a "variety show," complete with stage, curtain, and canned applause. It's not all bells and whistles, either; one can read detailed facts about the products' calorie content and ingredients.

The MüllerVitality section, which displays the probiotic and prebiotic product range—that is, "good" bacteria and the "food" for that bacteria; these yogurts promote better digestion—also links to its own website at vitalityomega3.co.uk. According to the Mintel Report, functional yogurt drinks are driving sales in the yogurt market, which justifies the brand's dedication of a separate site to this product category.

Given the way many areas of the site are presented with creativity, taste, and simplicity, a few sections are not as appetizing as the rest. The bland Müller Amore "luxury" yogurt section doesn't exactly evoke a feeling of indulgence. Similarly, the Müller Little Stars section could have included images of children or clever animation to connote more effectively that the products appeal to kids.

Once you're done "tasting," you can visit the Enjoy Life section, which features the brand's TV commercials and (currently broken) links to buy the ad's soundtrack and related music. Apart from product promotions and offers, there's not much "life" to "enjoy." Adding some educational information on the benefits of yogurt in everyday life would be useful for health conscious consumers, for example. Elements like quizzes, games, contests, and e-newsletters would also allow the brand to interact more intimately with its target audience.

In contrast, the Our Life section, which provides company history and news, is very informative. A virtual guided tour of the Müller factory shows how yogurt is made. Though an e-commerce section doesn't exist, the company might want to consider listing where Müller products are stocked.

Overall, the site is tastefully designed and conveys the core values of the brand. Much of the site is in Flash, so some people might be discouraged by the slow-loading pages. Despite this, however, the browsing experience is otherwise as smooth as yogurt itself.