Breakthrough in product range development: How to streamline momentum across multiple stakeholders for a major range transformation and supply partnership? 

Yeo Valley were successfully masterminding a dual growth strategy in yoghurt: turning around the Yeo brand in the face of competition from the powerhouses of Danone, Muller and Nestle, while simultaneously driving strategic own brand growth with the major UK supermarkets. Tesco were looking for a single UK supplier for their entire own brand yoghurt range, consolidating from multiple suppliers.

The range was complex and fragmented across different product types, sub-brands and pack formats. There were many important viewpoints between Tesco and Yeo Valley as well as consumers that represented every demographic in the UK. Emerging consumer trends were shifting well-established market structures and revealing new growth priorities.

How do you deliver a range that simplifies the supply chain and consumer offer when there are so many agendas to consider?

The pivot point was aligning all stakeholders around a single range vision. The vision was built from a deep understanding of the consumer drivers, market opportunity, operational and commercial imperatives and stakeholder perspectives. It unlocked go-forward for the new partnership agreement, providing:

• Clear, shared priorities for range development, with measurable targets
• New range architecture that halved the number of sub-brands, enabling operational efficiencies and an improved shopper experience
• Fresh inspiration for new growth, rationalising resource-heavy new product development to only the game-changer projects
• A 3-year plan with strong consumer and commercial rationale to enable sustainable development, despite inevitable team changes over that time