EasiYo are a classic home innovation story with their founder Len Light creating the first ever non electric yoghurt maker in his garage to feed his eight children.
Since then it has evolved into an export player and the Light family has been bought out by Westland Milk Products, a process completed in 2010. This was the catalyst for a push for a faster growth track.
As CEO Paul O’Brien explains, this new period of expansion has required a different approach.
“Governance, strategy, training and a workplace vision have allowed a more rapid phase of growth,” he says.
This started by opening up the business to attain some outside help – EasiYo teamed with Massey University to look at the exact make-up of the EasiYo products and received some assistance from NZTE.
The process was transformed again, as Mr O’Brien explains, with some market research to find out what was important to yogurt consumers. The research revealed that it was taste that attracted people to yogurt, more than the health benefits as they had imagined. That meant that tastings, rather than research into the health benefits of the yoghurt, became the priority.
A series of tastings around New Zealand followed to get feedback on their flavours.
From there EasiYo embarked on a programme to increase efficiency in 2010 – they aimed to achieve operational excellence.
“That efficiency helped EasiYo to deal with the double whammy of high milk prices and a high exchange rate in early 2011,” according to Mr O’Brien.
“We never predicted the tough conditions that came, but the changes we had made stood us in good stead to deal with it.”
Mr O’Brien describes the relationship with Westland Milk Products as one of EasiYo’s competitive advantages with the makeup of their yoghurt tied to the unique milk from Westland. He maintains it is the wet climate on the West Coast that allows a grass fed milk supply year round, whereas other areas must switch to silage, hay or grain feeding in winter.
“This allows EasiYo to retain the same formula all year round and consequently achieve a setting rate of 99.99 percent,” Mr O’Brien says.
EasiYo also provide a natural hedge for Westland Milk Products as they become more profitable when milk prices drop.
EasiYo have now created a facility to carry out their own market research and offer promotions to customers with an 80,000 customer database. This combined with sponsorship of the EasiYo Tactix netball team and Junior Masterchef has helped to maintain a marketing drive in New Zealand.
The next phase of growth may involve some more change according to Mr O’Brien.
“It may be a partnership with a bigger player, a licensing agreement or just more assertive organic growth. We are on the lookout to find a way to accelerate growth again.”
