Lactose-free milk tastes success

Some employees asked whether it was the right thing to do, said Valio export manager Maritta Timonen, at the recent World Dairy Summit in Yokohama.

But speaking on the use of technology and innovation to communicate the benefits of dairy to consumers, Timonen said the ‘Eila (shortened version of ‘No Lactose’ in Finnish)’ brand of lactose-free milk drink – twice as expensive as conventional milk – defied all expectations. 

Valio launched the world’s first lactose-free milk drink for test marketing in Finland in 2001, targeting first year sales of one million L, which was reached within the first two months. Sales hit 12 million L in 2002 and topped 70 million L in 2010.

Today Valio’s Eila lactose-free milk drink is one of its most popular domestic products with net sales for the lactose-free range amounting over 150 euros in 2012. 

Containing less than 0.01% lactose, Eila is the world’s first dairy product to give people who cannot tolerate lactose the chance to enjoy the taste of fresh milk again, and reap the nutritional benefits that come with it. In Finland, the Eila product cannot be sold as milk but as a milk drink because one part of the lactose is removed and rest is  hydrolysed using a lactase enzyme.

Timonen says this makes the milk drink lactose-free while allowing it to retain the “milk taste”. Valio had low-lactose milk in the market prior to Eila’s launch but consumers complained it was too sweet.

“But lactose intolerant consumers liked the no-lactose milk drink and we’re happy to get milk back into their diets in Finland,” she says.

Marketing has been a key to Eila’s success. In Finland, Timonen says, consumers were told what is lactose-free milk. The first targets were lactose intolerant individuals and their families. Then the company moved into the food service sector promoting the use of lactose-free ingredients in cooking.

“We explained that all good nutrients are present in lactose-free dairy products and taste all the same.”

Today, Eila products are sold in 12 markets – Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. Valio’s technology licensees sell their brands in Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, South Korea and Norway.

Valio supplies 40 different lactose-free products including for example milks, yoghurts, creams, quarks, cheeses, butter and milkpowders.

Timonen says with social media, marketing has become much easier compared to the launch 12 years ago. “Today it’s much easier to spread your message in a more efficient way.’

Timonen says like other countries, Finland is also experiencing a declining trend in milk consumption. “However, the lactose-free milk drink has helped to get new milk consumers and helped buck the trend,” she says.

• Sudesh Kissun attended the 2013 World Dairy Summit in Yokohama, Japan with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.