PepsiCo Brings European Yogurt to the U.S. Market
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and Theo Muller Group (“Muller”), a privately held dairy business in Germany, announced today their U.S. joint venture, Muller Quaker Dairy, to enter the U.S. dairy market in mid-July with premium yogurt products.
These products — Muller Corner, Muller Greek Corner and Muller FrutUp — mark the first entry by either PepsiCo or Muller into U.S. dairy aisles.
PepsiCo already holds a strong position in the global dairy products business. The company acquired Wimm-Bill-Dann, Russia’s leading dairy company, in 2011 and has been part of a joint venture with Almarai, Saudi Arabia’s dairy company, since 2009. PepsiCo has a previously stated goal of growing its global nutrition portfolio to $30 billion in revenue by 2020.
The joint venture is building a new yogurt manufacturing plant in Batavia, N.Y. Once completed in 2013, it will be one of the largest yogurt plants in the U.S., and is expected to create more than 180 new jobs in upstate New York, says PepsiCo.
