Valio turns to quark to launch healthy spread

Valio, the Finnish dairy group, has launched a spread containing quark in its domestic market to compete with Unilever’s Becel in the “wellbeing” segment.

The company is rolling out Valio Better, a spread containing quark, rapeseed oil and butter.

Annamari Lammi, category manager for spreads, butter and white cheese at Valio, said the company is the market leader in Finland’s spreads market but wanted to target consumers buying healthier lines.

“The interest in holistic wellbeing is a rising trend in Finland and quark is a product that is linked strongly to wellbeing. We wanted to create a spread that would answer this interest in the holistic wellbeing. Previously we did not have a spread in our assortment that would meet these consumer demands,” Lammi said.

Lammi, who dubbed the new line “quarkarine”, said Valio was entering a segment “dominated” by Becel. “There is no other spread that combines quark, rapeseed oil and butter in this way on the Finnish market,” she added.