How Drinkable Yogurt Brought The Middle East Into Middle America

The love affair Americans are having with yogurt is so passionate it’s dominating the dairy section of the grocery store. And as more food companies and grocery stores cater to the refining tastebuds of American consumers, a wider variety of yogurt and yogurt-like products are taking over the shelves.

In particular, food purveyors are banking on drinkable yogurt, thanks in part to the quickening pace of the American daily lifestyle, which privileges on-the-go breakfasts and snacks over languorous meals around the breakfast table. The same impulses that have forced cereal companies to focus on breakfast bars and single-serving cereal cups have been a boon for yogurt makers.

Thomas Bailey, a dairy industry analyst at Rabobank, says drinkable yogurt has “caught fire” and should continue to pick up for several more years. Its growth—which is still relatively small—will partly be driven by yogurt makers piling into every imaginable flavor and style to compete for grocery shelf space.

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