Discover the Best Dairy Brand 2023: Alpro

Congratulations on your win! Last year, it was Danone. This year, it is Alpro. Why do you think Alpro wins in this category this year?

Our ambition as Danone company is to provide healthy and sustainable food and drinks for all inhabitants of Belgium. We have a true flexitarian^[1] mindset and are committed to continuously grow our plant-based business. So, for us it is rewarding to see that Alpro is following in the footsteps of the Danone brand and that with Alpro, we are convincing the dairy shopper to also discover our delicious and nutritious plant-based alternatives.

Alpro is a truly mission-driven brand, we always put our purpose and our consumer at the heart of what we do. A fitting example of this, is the recent launch of Alpro This is Not M*lk, a plant-based drink that was born from the feedback of the consumer. The product comes close to the product experience of dairy milk. Through this, we have managed to recruit new people into our brand, and so further advancing our Alpro and Danone mission.

Lastly – we see that localness has become more relevant in recent years, did you know that Alpro is a Belgian brand, born in West-Flanders in the 1980s – and the biggest Alpro factory is still the one in Wevelgem?

Alpro is the obvious leader in the Dairy category, which is interesting considering Alpro does not have dairy in its products. What do you think is at the base of this continuous success?

On Alpro we consistently put our purpose and our consumer at the heart of everything we do: we want to convince everybody of the wonders of plant-based; with a delicious, healthy, and sustainable portfolio as one of our key assets. We continue to innovate, test & learn. A notable example of this, is the recent launch of Alpro This is Not M*lk.

For us, this recognition shows that plant-based is no longer “the alternative” but just another choice the dairy category has to offer.

Alpro is scoring noticeably lower than its competitors on cross-selling potential. Do you have an explanation for that?

That’s a great question – and it has been one that we’ve been working on for the last few years. We indeed see that a substantial chunk of our buyers, only buys one or two of our product categories, while the reasons to believe are common across all our categories (drinks, pb alternatives to yoghurt, desserts, and cream).

The last few years, we’ve been actively working on this, both in communication – bringing the shared benefits as key messages to continue to build our Alpro Masterbrand, as in execution. For example: last year we have decided to put our Alpro desserts next to our Alpro PB alternatives to yoghurt in the shelves of our retailers. This was based on the insight that most of the plant-based alternative to yoghurt buyers, either not knows Alpro also offers plant-based desserts or does not actively go look for them in shelf. Since putting them together, we’ve noticed a clear increase of both penetration and sell-out volume on our Alpro desserts.

We also work closely together with our squad of Alpro ambassadors, social influencers that show how they use Alpro in their daily lives, and why. This is not only an authentic way to share our benefits once more, but also a fantastic way to drive awareness for the different product categories in which Alpro plays.

Organizing a ‘Barista’ contest with Alpro products is a clever idea! Do you have other similar marketing projects?

One of the key drivers AND barriers for plant-based, is TASTE – people who have not yet tried plant-based are often afraid that they might not like it, so they do not want to go and buy a whole pack to discover this.

Hence, we are investing a significant part of our marketing mix in SAMPLING: indirect samplings via food boxes and e-commerce, samplings at the entrance or the check-out at supermarkets and direct samplings in city centers and at events. This way people can try our products for free, discover they taste GREAT – and of course, we also include a coupon to then stimulate a purchase in store.

our Alpro food-truck is currently touring the Belgian train stations and office parks with a delicious and nutritious Alpro breakfast.

^[1] A flexitarian diet is healthy, balanced and varied. It consists mainly of plant-based food (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, etc.), while allowing meat and other animal products in moderation. It is also a sustainable diet and has a smaller impact on the environment.