Natural/plain yoghurt more popular than flavoured or fruit yoghurt
Natural or plain varieties of yoghurt are now being enjoyed by more Australians than flavoured or fruit varieties, with 45.5% of Australians eating natural or plain yoghurt in an average four weeks, compared to 42.4% who eat flavoured or fruit yoghurt in the same period according to research conducted by Roy Morgan in the 12 months to March 2019.
Importantly the trends favour natural or plain yoghurt for which consumption is up 2.7ppts from four years ago, while consumption of flavoured or fruit yoghurts fell by 6.6ppts over the same period.
Consumption patterns have also changed from years prior, with the proportion of Australians eating flavoured or fruit yoghurt daily and weekly falling by 3.3ppts and 3.1ppts respectively from four years ago, while daily consumption of natural or plain yoghurt rose by 1.8ppts and weekly consumption was up 1.7ppts.
Tellingly, the only consumption frequency for flavoured or fruit yoghurt which grew over the last four years was those eating flavoured or fruit yoghurt ‘Less Often’ [than once a month] indicating that existing consumers may be limiting how often they indulge themselves with flavoured or fruit yoghurt.
Frequency of eating flavoured/fruit yoghurt and natural/plain yoghurt 2019 cf. 2015
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2014 – March 2015 (n=15,913) and April 2018 – March 2019 (n= 14,722). Base: Australians 14+.
Women remain main yoghurt consumers although men are closing the gap
Yoghurt has traditionally been more popular with women than their male counterparts, and this continues to hold true although men are catching up. Now 49.4% of women eat natural or plain yoghurt in an average four weeks (up 0.7ppts from four years ago) compared to just 41.3% of men (up 4.7ppts).
Consumption of flavoured or fruit yoghurt has fallen since 2015 for both women and men although the decline for women has been far more significant. Now 45.7% of women eat flavoured or fruit yoghurt in an average four weeks (down 9.8ppts from four years ago) compared to 39% of men (down 3.4ppts).
In addition, yoghurt is most popular with consumers over 35 years old, particularly in the 35-49 years old and 50-64 years old age groups. Now 49.8% of 35-49 year olds and 50.6% of 50-64 year olds eat natural or plain yoghurt and 47.2% of 35-49 year olds and 47.5% of 50-64 year olds eat flavoured or fruit yoghurt in an average four weeks.
Those eating natural or plain yoghurt more likely to have health conscious attitudes
A person’s attitude to food can be another influential factor which determines trends in product consumption. For instance, 53.3% of people who agree with the statement ‘I restrict how much fattening food I eat’ eat natural or plain yoghurt in an average four weeks compared to the 46.7% of people who agreed with the statement who eat flavoured or fruit yoghurt.
Other statements that those eating natural or plain yoghurt are significantly more likely to agree with than those eating flavoured or fruit yoghurt include ‘I try to eat food that has had minimal processing’ (54.6% cf. 47%), ‘I try to buy organic food whenever I can’ (55% cf. 40.5%), ‘I'm constantly watching my weight’ (51.3% cf. 45.3%), ‘I prefer to eat healthy snacks’ (53.4% cf. 47%) and ‘The food I eat is all, or almost all, vegetarian’ (52.3% cf. 36.9%).
Conversely, flavoured or fruit yoghurt consumers are much more likely to agree with the statement ‘I often buy frozen or chilled ready prepared meals’ (48% cf. 36.7%) than those who eat natural or plain yoghurt and more likely to agree ‘Taste is more important than ingredients’ (44.7% cf. 41.6%) and ‘I tend to snack throughout the day’ (45.3% cf. 44.1%).
These types of insights can be used to build a three-dimensional profile of customers of all kinds of industries and brands which can provide a business with a significant strategic advantage.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says:
“Yoghurt has traditionally been an affordable and popular snack for many Australian families. Australia’s women remain the leading consumers of yoghurt in Australia, both flavoured or fruit and also natural or plain although the fastest growing gender segment is easily men eating natural or plain yoghurt now at 41.3% (up 4.7ppts from four years ago).
“In a swing consistent with changing societal attitudes towards healthy alternatives consumption of natural or plain yoghurt has increased consistently over the last four years at the expense of flavoured or fruit yoghurt for which consumption is down on 2015.
“Popular brands such as Yoplait, Gippsland Dairy, Farmers Union and Dairy Farmers have been competing for a share in the Australian wallet for years. However, Chobani Greek Yoghurt has been the star performer in recent years with an astonishingly large growth in consumers.
“Now 20.5% of Australians eating flavoured or fruit yoghurt in an average four weeks eat Chobani, up 4.1ppts from a year ago, and up 11.9ppts from four years ago. Chobani has also grown its market share for those eating natural or plain yoghurt to 19.6%, up 1ppt from a year ago, and up 8.3ppts from four years ago.
“This growth means Chobani is now the leading brand for flavoured or fruit yoghurt with 1.79 million consumers ahead of Yoplait with 1.41 million. For natural or plain yoghurt Farmers Union remains the market leader with over 2.32 million consumers although Chobani is fast closing in and now has more than 1.83 million consumers in second place.
“By analysing Roy Morgan’s attitudes to food we are able to distill the differences between Australians who eat natural or plain yoghurt and those who eat flavoured or fruit yoghurt. Natural or plain yoghurt consumers tend to agree more with statements focused on healthier, more organic products and are more likely to be vegetarian, while being less likely to agree with statements focused on consumption of fast, pre-prepared or unhealthy foods.
“This speaks volumes on the underlying attitudes which influences every purchase made by Australian customers. Understanding these nuances and detecting trends which may not be as obvious can provide businesses with an unparalleled competitive advantage. To learn more, speak to one of our staff at Roy Morgan, and begin cultivating a culture of knowledge and insights in your business.”
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Office: +61 (03) 9224 5309
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
