Danone has tried several times to enter the ice cream world, although the results have not always been as expected. The project that has worked best has been Yogurtería Danone, a chain selling cups of frozen yogurt and fresh yogurt. The group is also present in this sector through Alpro, its company of plant-based alternatives to dairy products, which already leads sales of plant-based yogurts with the four varieties it has on the market.
But the company's most notable attempt to gain a foothold in the business of ice creams made with milk was Yolado, an R&D project entirely developed in Barcelona that achieved tremendous sales success when it launched in 2012, but died just two years later. Yolado was an innovative product that consumers bought refrigerated and had to freeze at home to turn it into ice cream. In just 15 days, Danone sold more than 250 tons of Yolado, which sold out in all supermarkets. The multinational defined the launch as one of the most important in its history, as it broke all records. The success achieved that summer of 2012, however, turned into failure in 2013 and, by the summer of 2014, it was no longer sold. "We will relaunch Yolado someday," Danone said, arguing that "they needed to perfect the product."
This day has not arrived, but Danone has not abandoned the idea of extending its business into the world of ice cream. Last year, it already took a first step by launching a 100% plant-based ice cream under the Savia brand, which completed its existing presence in this segment with Alpro. This summer, it will try its luck again, in this case, with its Greek-style yogurt brand, Oikos, which will market ice creams for the first time. To carry out this project, Danone has signed an agreement with Lacrem, the Catalan company that manufactures the Farggi and La Menorquina ice cream brands.
Lacrem will produce the new Oikos ice creams at its plant in Palau Solità i Plegamans (Barcelona), where Savia ice cream is also made. The chosen format is 500 ml tubs, which will be sold at a recommended price of 6 euros and, initially, with two flavors: Oikos salted caramel and hazelnuts, and Oikos dark chocolate and almonds.
In addition to manufacturing Savia and Oikos ice creams, Lacrem-La Menorquina also handles the distribution and commercialization of the four varieties of Alpro, a brand that has been part of the Danone group since 2016. Thus, the agreement between the two companies will now include a range of seven ice creams. "We are very satisfied to continue strengthening the alliance with Danone to expand the offer of ice creams available in the market and offer new options to consumers," explains Àlex Balaguer, general director of Lacrem.
According to Danone, based on market studies by the consulting firm IRI, Alpro leads the plant-based ice cream category in Spain, with a market share of 14.4%, which grows to 58.9% if only plant-based ice creams packaged in large tubs are considered.
Lacrem, the parent company of Farggi, is a company founded by the Farga family, but which today is share-controlled by the British fund Cheyne Capital, which has ended up with almost all the shares as a consequence of the financial problems that the company has been dragging for years, which could not correctly digest the purchase of La Menorquina. The pandemic has dealt a new blow to the Catalan ice cream group, due to the closure of the hospitality sector, vital for a brand like La Menorquina. The fall in sales has led the company to request 70 million euros in aid from the business support fund created by the Government through the SEPI.
Lacrem employs 500 workers and controls a market share close to 20% in the ice cream sector. In addition to its own brands, the group produces private labels for supermarket chains such as Mercadona and Lidl and ice creams with third-party brands, such as Danone.