MG412 Principles of Marketing: Alpro Yogurt vs Muller Yogurt Report

This report presents a comparative analysis of Alpro Yogurt and Muller Yogurt, examining their marketing strategies. The study delves into their respective target markets, product offerings, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional activities, highlighting the application of the 4Ps of marketing. Alpro, a plant-based product provider, is contrasted with Muller, a dairy product giant, to understand their differing approaches. The report uses secondary research from books, journals, and company websites. It identifies each brand's strengths and weaknesses and offers recommendations for enhancing their market presence and profitability. The analysis covers product/brand comparison, pricing strategies, distribution methods, and promotional campaigns, providing a comprehensive overview of their marketing efforts. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and suggests areas for improvement for both brands, emphasizing the contrasting approaches of plant-based versus dairy-based marketing.

MG412 Principles of
Marketing

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main aim of the report was to carry out a comparative study between the Alpro
Yogurt and Muller yogurt. It covered all the aspects like target markets, the 4 Ps of marketing
mix and also some recommendations which the brands can use in order to increase their presence
and profitability. The research methods used were secondary by some books and journals and
also through some online sites of the companies. The result achieved was that both the brands
strive hard to achieve their objectives but must improve themselves in the weaker areas.
Therefore, the report compared all the aspects of both the brands.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
ALPRO YOGURT AND MULLER YOGURT..............................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The aim of this report is to prepare a comparative analysis between the Alpro Yogurt and
Muller Yogurt. The comparison will be done on the basis of the target markets of both along
with the application of their 4 Ps of marketing. Its focus is to explain the ways in which they
implement the 4 Ps differently. The Alpro Yogurt is a company which is Europen based and is
located in Belgium that deals in the marketing of organic as well as non-organic both, products
of plant base which are modified non-genetically modified including the eatables and drinkables
which are mostly made of the raw-materials like almonds, soy, hazelnuts etc. It markets its
majority of the products in Europe and also beyond it. It represents only 38% part of the market
share considering the market of soya milk which is branded and the market of yogurt but is
confident of growth of its business (Ziauddeen and et.al., 2018).
Muller Yogurt is a well-known producer dealing in the dairy products and performs its
operations in multinationals. Its headquarters are in Fischach which is in the Bavaria’s German
state. It has turnover of about 6 billion and is one of the best-selling brands of yogurt in UK. This
report will differentiate between the various aspects of both the brands (Costa‐Font and
Revoredo‐Giha, 2018).
ALPRO YOGURT AND MULLER YOGURT
1. Comparison of Target Markets
The main target of the Alpro yogurt is the women having the age between 25-45. It also targets
coffee market having the creamers of plant alternative. It has been considered as an official
sponsor of the festival which was recently held also named as Brighton Fringe Festival
(Pendrous, 2013). Though it is having much part in the market share but its demand for the food
is rising globally and the forces which the suppliers have boosts the confidence of the Alpro
regarding the progress. Its mission is to change the way the people eat and it does so by
launching the amazing development of the new products since last 2-3 years by considering the
positive impacts of plant based food on the health and the environment.
Muller targets new segments of yogurt category. The company has also planned for two new
products of yogurt in order to evolve, produce and market branded yogurt and desserts products
of new generation (Muller targets new segments of yogurt category, 2018). It mainly focuses on

strengthening leadership in different categories where the company already exists. But also
strives hard to introduce amazing new branded products which are labelled privately where
Muller does not have its presence. Consumers can also purchase its yogurt from the retailers like
Asda and others.
2. Product/ Brand
The products distributed by Alpro Yogurt are soya based vegetarian/ vegan products under
certain brand names like Belsoy, Alpro Soya and Provamel. The products of company also
include soya milk, soya cream, soy yogurt and soya based desserts. Also, it deals in plant-based
margarines and ice-cream. Its products are made either from non-GM soya, hazelnuts, cashew,
almonds, rice, oats or coconut (Schepers and Annemans, 2018). The product line also includes
dessert & meat alternative products and yogurt.
The soya milk of Alpro scored best when it was rated by consumer safety group of leading
consumer of Germany.
Muller on the flip side, produces substantial number of yogurt brands which are much popular
such as Nukkerkight, Yogz, Mullerice and Muler Corner. Its Muller Frutup is very famous as it
is vanilla flavoured yogurt having topping of fruit mousse. In the Muller corner, there are three
major varieties such as Healthy balance, Fruit and crunch. Under this, it has different flavours
like Blackberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach and Apricot (Fairchild and Morgan, 2019).
Its Muller rice is marketed greatly as it is considered as healthy, filling and energy providing
snack. Mullerlight is low fat yogurt's brand in which the flavours are strawberry, toffee and
apricot. But it contains gelatine to enable the product to gel which cannot be consumed by the
vegans so the company is finding an alternative for the vegetarians to gelatine.
Muller Little stars aims at the young children which is marketed greatly as it is 100% natural.
3. Price
The pricing strategy of the Muller is high. It believes that it produces and sells high quality
products and always tries to bring improvement in the quality of its products. So, it keeps the
price of its products high. The pricing strategy depends upon the positioning of the product
which means high quality product for the people who have high quality standards. It sells them at
premium pricing. The price of its products is highest among its competitors i.e., $2 (Pricing

strategy, 2017). It commits that the company also gives discount. They are also using the price
skimming strategy as the company put a lot of effort in the research and development. The
company also states that it will also use prestige pricing as they have high quality product to be
sold at high prices. The company states that after 1 month of launching the product, it will reduce
the prices as they will get an idea about the perception of customer towards its products.
On the flip side, the price of the products of Alpro yogurt is comparatively very less, as its main
aim is to change the way people eat instead of making profit. It sells the regular yogurt at £1
which is half of the rates of the Muller. The company focusses on the health and environmental
aspects and the inclusion of plant based food in the diet of majority of the people. It also
provides various offers so that it can attract the maximum people to consume healthy and plant
based food.
4. Place (Distribution)
The Alpro distributes its products globally especially in UK and Europe but in many other
countries. It produces its dairy free products for the global distribution. Alpro has been
considered as the European pioneer in terms of plant based eatables and drinkables since almost
40 years which promotes the best alternative which is also healthy to dairy products along with
the ingredients such as almonds, soya, oats and rice. Their main aim is to improve the health of
the people and the health of the overall planet (Wollmer and et.al., 2020). So, it distributes its
products to the consumers of UK and Europe especially and also in many other countries. It does
not distribute its products to the other retailers in order to increase the profitability. The team of
Alpro was responsible for implementing and dispatching the campaigns of brand but which
required restraining and alliance with certain agencies and some local teams in region without
compromising with the spirit of brand image (Froiio and et.al., 2020). So, it communicated
effectively and boosted up its brand equity which fostered the performance of teams for
achieving the vision for a future which will be completely based on plants.
On the other hand, the Muller believes in earning a large profit. So, it distributes its products to
the famous and well-known retailers like Asda so that the products can be sold easily by the

brand awareness and it also helped in promoting the products. Its focus is to make more money
by selling majority of the products.
5. Promotion
Alpro is planning to launch marketing campaign which is based on a Pan-European which will
motivate the consumers to select the Alpro Big Pot soya which can replace the yogurt at the
duration of breakfast. 40 million UK consumers were attracted by the campaign which was
implemented over a four-week period with a combined and collaborative use of technologically
advanced and traditional media activity (New marketing campaign from Alpro, 2014). The
company also performs its promotions through various social networking sites like Twitter,
Facebook along with YouTube, a banner advertising campaign, engagement of the bloggers,
press advertising and activity of PR. The important point to be focussed upon is that during the
whole campaign, the #alprotops is used in order to encourage the consumers to express their
views and inspire each other.
The Muller has expanded its partnership with the national basketball association to offer the
consumers two on-pack promotions across Muller rice packs and Frijj bottles. Muller proliferate
its marketing expertise to other segregations of business (Müller spreads marketing expertise to
other business divisions, 2014). Marketing team organizes various internal workshops and other
floating programs for enhancing the success of rest of the business. The focus is to share the
brand knowledge with other divisions of business as it performs its operations in a rapidly
moving classification where there is a rapid change in the customer habits.
CONCLUSION
The alpro yogurt and the Muller yogurt strived hard to achieve their respective goals. The
Alpro implemented its 4 Ps by focusing on enhancing the awareness and the need of the plant-
based food whereas the Muller focussed on expanding its products to the other businesses and to
earn larger profits. They have applied the marketing mix in their suitable way. The alpro wanted
to extend the customer base by making the people know about the health benefits of the plant
based food. While the Muller distributed its products to the well-known retailers in order to earn
high profits and to make the other businesses aware of its products. The Alpro was more
successful in implementing the 4 Ps as it was facing a rapid growth and was much more

confident as the products were expanding globally. The Alpro must improve itself by targetting
more groups and the people of every age and the Muller must increase its presence on the online
platforms and social networking sites.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Costa‐Font, M. and Revoredo‐Giha, C., 2018. An empirical analysis of UK milk contract prices
2004–2016. Agribusiness. 34(1). pp.112-141.
Fairchild, R. and Morgan, M., 2019. Taking back control of what you eat. BDJ Team. 6(1).
Froiio, F. and et.al., 2020. Vegetable-Milk-Based Yogurt-Like Structure: Rheological Properties
Influenced by Gluten-Free Carob Seed Flour. Applied Sciences. 10(19). p.6963.
Schepers, J. and Annemans, L., 2018. The potential health and economic effects of plant-based
food patterns in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Nutrition. 48. pp.24-32.
Wollmer, E. and et.al., 2020. A Biopredictive In Vitro Approach for Assessing Compatibility of
a Novel Pediatric Hydrocortisone Drug Product within Common Pediatric Dosing
Vehicles. Pharmaceutical Research. 37(10). pp.1-15.
Ziauddeen, N. and et.al., 2018. Eating at food outlets and leisure places and “on the go” is
associated with less-healthy food choices than eating at home and in school in children:
Cross-sectional data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Program
(2008–2014). The American journal of clinical nutrition. 107(6). pp.992-1003.
Online
Muller targets new segments of yogurt category, 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/muller-wiseman/pressreleases/muller-targets-new-
segments-of-yogurt-category-2444515>
New marketing campaign from Alpro, 2014. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.talkingretail.com/products-news/grocery/new-marketing-campaign-alpro-
23-05-2014/>
Pendrous, R., 2013. Plant-based eating to grow at expense of meat and dairy. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2013/09/20/Meat-and-
dairy-to-lose-out-to-plant-based-eating-Alpro>
Pricing strategy, 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.studocu.com/hk/document/missouri-state-university/marketing-
management/other/pricing-strategy/1152186/view>
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Müller spreads marketing expertise to other business divisions, 2014. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.marketingweek.com/muller-spreads-marketing-expertise-to-
other-business-divisions/>
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