Just because Chobani has opened up a huge lead in the Greek-style category it invented — and that is reshaping the U.S. yogurt business — doesn't mean that others can't try to chip away. Dannon has grabbed a significant share after sensing the opportunity with Chobani's rapid rise.

Other players, big and small, also are attempting to make more noise and get their stakes of a Greek-style market that has been calculated at about $1.5 billion a year now and still growing by strong double-digits — even coming up in discussions of Greece's Eurozone crisis. Yoplait, Hain Celestial and the Pinkberry chain are among the brands that are making their own plays. Ben & Jerry's just revamped its frozen yogurt line to make Greek Yogurt the basis of the line. Fage and Chobani have a friend in U.S. senator Chuck Schumer.

The most closely watched Greek yogurt brand is Yoplait. The General Mills line, which has shared the top of the U.S. yogurt market with Dannon for many years, got a particularly late start in the Greek segment. But now it's launching 40 new yogurt products, and Greek yogurt will be the centerpiece of that rollout this summer.Continue reading...

Maybe it’s a new twist on comfort food for challenging times, but the biggest hit in the yogurt section of the supermarket these days is full-bodied, full-flavor Greek yogurt.

Brands such as Stonyfield Farm’s Oikos and 3 Greek Gods, now owned by Hain Celestial, have been trying to meet booming demand for tasty Greek-style yogurt, which is thicker, creamier and generally higher in protein and, often, fat than regular yogurt. Pioneering brands such as the imported Fage yogurt are now being joined by mainstream CPG players, who are eager to meet the growing American demand for Greek yogurt.

Kraft plans to expand its Athenos brand of hummus and other Mediterranean fare to include Greek yogurt nationwide in January. Athenos Greek yogurt is available in select US markets now, in response to demand from some 85,000 Facebook fans.

“Two years ago, if you described this as a niche, you were almost giving it too much credit,” Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm, told brandchannel. “But today it is a $200-million to $300-million segment, headed toward $500 million, and every major player is leaping into it.”Continue reading...

New York City is leading U.S. cities, states and national organizations making a commitment to the National Salt Reduction Initiative.

Spurred by the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC restaurants and packaged food purveyors are signing up to reduce sodium in food by 20 percent over the next five years.

Concerned by medical research that indicates salt's role in increasing blood pressure and thus the odds of a stroke or heart attack, the public-private partnership with the American Heart Association has garnered a groundswell of support in area restaurants and businesses.Continue reading...