Danone, Starbucks to co-create Greek yogurts for the US market

French dairy giant Danone and US coffee chain Starbucks have teamed up to sell a line of Greek yogurts called Evolution Fresh in the US market from 2014.

The two companies did not disclose any financial information.

Evolution Fresh, inspired by Dannon-branded ready-to-eat Parfait Greek yogurt products will be co-created by Starbucks and Danone and sold from the spring of 2014 in over 1,000 Starbucks outlets and in grocery stores by 2015.

After a successful launch in the US, both companies plan to market Evolution Fresh in a second phase globally.

''Starbucks is committed to evolving and enhancing our customer experience with innovative and wholesome food offerings. Today's announcement underscores this commitment through the transformation of our existing yogurt offerings and our multi-year agreement with Danone,'' said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO.

''We are energised by the strong customer response to Evolution FreshTM offerings, and believe a strategic agreement with Danone, the world leader in fresh dairy products, affords us the perfect opportunity to grow - and elevate - the Evolution Fresh brand both in our stores and in CPG channels,'' he added.

''The recent success of the Greek segment and our Oikos brand have confirmed the growing appeal of tasty and nutritious yogurts for U.S. consumers and established Dannon's leadership in the market. We believe this attraction will be further enhanced by our new access to millions of consumers through distribution in Starbucks stores, as well as through the addition of an exciting new brand, Evolution Fresh, inspired by Dannon,'' said Danone CEO, Franck Riboud.