Cost Sector Catering: What are Yeo Valley’s latest challenges and main drivers?
Craig Nichols: Our constant challenge is to produce the best quality dairy we can, while making it affordable to everyone. Yeo Valley was started with the aim to support British family farms, and that is still the same today; the more milk we buy from our farmers the more British family farms we support.
Health is so important, not just for organisations but for every single one of us. It’s important that people learn to eat a balanced diet and also that their palates have time to adjust.
If you eat lots of very sweet food it takes a while to train your taste buds to enjoy a less sweet taste profile. That’s why we have developed the Yeo Valley sugar reduction policy. We want to produce tasty dairy products that people will enjoy and to minimise any added sugars wherever we can, but we don’t want to see food wasted because of it. Of course our natural yogurts and milk contain only milk’s natural sugar lactose, so at least that’s an easy place to start.
What are your bestsellers in the cost sector?
Our 80g and 120g pots are growing significantly in the wholesale sector as they count towards the Food for Life scheme, and are made in our Somerset dairy, which never handles nuts, and, of course, they are organic too. The choice of neatly packaged portion controlled sizes can be helpful in managing serving size, as well as reducing the need for washing up. We have recently launched an 80g natural which is doing really well as people look to cut out all the added sugar in the products that they serve, and they are delicious with some berries on top too.
Are you working on any initiatives relevant to cost sector operators?
We are constantly working to provide new and relevant products for the foodservice sector. We developed smooth yogurts in response to demand from the industry; we also ensure that our packaging is suitable for the purpose, such as recyclable plastic individual pots that can easily be kept in an ice bucket or chiller cabinet without degradation. We have some exciting new projects up our sleeve, so keep an eye out for them in 2016.
What advice are you offering your customers?
With increasing focus from the government and the press on healthy eating, now is the time to consider broadening choices to include healthier breakfast and snack alternatives.
What are your goals for the rest of 2016?
We launched a new recipe for our 80g pots in April. The change saw a reduction of 2g of sugar per 100g from the previous recipe. We are really pleased to see our efforts to reduce the added sugar wherever we can across our range, without compromising on taste. We hope to see this range grow as it fits in with the new government target and still tastes great.