Retailers See Yogurt Category Heating Up

America's yogurt brands are soaring higher than ever in the past year, and that is good news for retailers as they are seeing higher rings and more profit, according to the latest data from Price-Trak, an Albany, N.Y.-based market research company specializing in trade pricing and trade promotion reporting of 150 standard categories.

For the latest 12 months, the average unit trade price increased to $1.22, up 8 percent vs. the same year-ago period. New premium varieties like Chobani FLIP, Fage Crossovers and Noosa premium yogurt offer consumers more options.

"The brands are also responding with higher trade allowances on average, which are being used for TPR’s and ad features to drive trial and awareness at the shelf,” notes Andy “Dewey” Rumpelt, president of Price-Trak.

Unlike many grocery categories, where trade monies can be used for displays, the refrigerated section relies more heavily on multiple unit promotional pricing. The Price-Trak Report notes that the length of deals increased slightly to 3.7 weeks on average. “We are seeing trade promotion allowances as high as 22 percent,” said Rumpelt, adding that there is a 14 percent increase in the number of unique UPCs over the past year in the yogurt category.