High-protein products have been trending everywhere in the food industry, from snacks to beverages and even confectionery — the frozen dessert aisle is seeing this boom as well, and Australian-born Twisted Healthy Treats has launched a new range of frozen yoghurt popsicles to tap into this.
“Frozen yoghurt is our heritage here at Twisted, we ferment our own yoghurt on site as part of our manufacturing process so it’s a true yoghurt and now we have this offered on a stick that we have added protein into as well,” Twisted Healthy Treats CEO Cass Spies said.
“We just launched these FroYo Protein Sticks in 1,000 Woolworths Australia stores nationwide in September. Each stick has 6g of protein per stick and contains no more than 80 calories.”
Spies believes that this product format is paving the way for a whole new category, and could well revamp the way frozen yoghurt makes an impact on the wider protein space.
“I feel very strongly about the fact that you know the future of frozen yoghurt definitely has protein in it, and we are really we are really out there paving the way for frozen yoghurt globally,” she said.
“This product is a first of its kind, and the focus was very much getting yoghurt onto a stick as that obviously really helps with convenience for consumers that are looking for an on-the-go snack.”
Protein in chilled vs frozen yoghurt
In terms of protein-fortified yoghurt products, a lot of work has already been done in the chilled yoghurt space where many yoghurt tubs are fortified accordingly, but Spies sees just as much potential for products in the freezer aisle.
“I’ve been looking at the chilled category in yoghurt for a long time, and there are some incredible brands in there globally that have done a lot with it, moving this closer to a dessert, fortifying it with vitamins, minerals, and protein and so on,” she said.
“That said, nobody was really thinking about doing that in the freezer, so a frozen yoghurt with protein in it was really a logical next evolution.”
The FroYo Protein Sticks come in Mango Passionfruit and Strawberries and Cream, made with all Australian dairy and fruit. Each six-stick pack retails for A$12.50 (US$8.74) at Woolworths.
Making the international leap
The firms has every intention of bringing this product to global markets beyond Australia, but is well aware that some specific nuances need to be addressed before making the leap.
“I think the biggest difference that we’ve seen in the last 12 to 18 months is that many markets around the world are ramping up their protein consumption and it’s relatively new to them, versus Australian consumers which have A been eating protein in products for many, many years,” she said.
“So, we often find that an Australian consumer will eat one of our protein products and not have be not be able to taste the protein at all, but we then take that same product to somewhere in Asia, and it’s a very different response. For me, that just means there’s a huge ramp and also opportunity in these other markets as they become more accustomes to eating protein-rich products.”
Some of the firm’s main overseas targets include South East Asia, Taiwan, China and South Korea.
“These countries are really very much our neighbours here in Australia, and we really feel that Brand Australia has such an incredible reputation that will help,” said Spies.
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