Yoghurt for 'real men'

Photo / Supplied

In a man's world, blueberry yoghurt is for girls on diets. Or so you would think.

Fonterra has created a range of products - Mammoth Supply Co - which it thinks will fill a void for tough-guy snacks.

They include the apple and blueberry yoghurt (it's super-thick and chunky, so it's made for a man), rum and cola icecream, and iced coffees.

Adverts for the products will be aired on radio and television from today - playing on the social stereotypes of what is "okay" and "not okay" for men to stay manly.

Tubs of the new yoghurt come with a spoon and in a 325g carton - much larger than the usual 150g snack-size pottles - with a label that reads: "This is men's yoghurt and you are a man. Now find a spoon, fork or spade and dig in."

The adverts are narrated by the deep voice of The Big Lebowski actor Sam Elliott, who says what men "can" and "can't" do according to social stereotypes.

"Men can eat yoghurt," he says. "Just as long as it's thick and chunky and built to tame a man's hunger." He signs off saying: "Mammoth Supply Co, real man food, man."

The "super-thick" yoghurt has fruit, seeds, grains and barley. The yoghurt comes in lemon and passionfruit, mango and coconut, apricot and manuka honey and apple and blueberry.

Mammoth's "dangerously smooth" icecream flavours include rum and cola and peanut butter.

"We did research with men, and that's what they came back with," said Dominic Quin, Fonterra's general manager of marketing and innovation.

He said the company's research showed men stopped eating yoghurt after 30 because they saw it as being for their wives and girlfriends or as "diet" food which was not substantial enough.

"It's definitely a first in New Zealand ... For us it's challenging the category norms, and we're excited we can have a go at it first."

Senior brand strategist Wayne Attwell, of marketing firm Bold Horizon, said the concept was an interesting spin on gender-based products which had been seen in toiletry and skincare products recently.

"It's interesting, because if you look at the men's toiletry stuff, they don't show you a rugged farmer guy using it. It's much more metrosexual-type people they are targeting."

The toiletry products seemed to be targeted towards "in-betweeners" who were "more metrosexual-type men but still not entirely convinced they need those products". So it would be interesting to see if the yoghurt was popular, he said.

"I'm always a bit cautious about research ... As with all research and focus groups, what you find out doesn't necessary translate into fact ... What if they don't eat it because they don't like the flavour?"

Mr Attwell said the person doing the buying could also influence its popularity. "How many men do the shopping in the supermarket?"