Arla preparing Danish chocolate milk Cocio for UK launch

10-Feb-2014 - Last updated on 11-Feb-2014 at 09:18 GMT

European dairy giant Arla Foods has revealed plans to launch its popular Danish chocolate milk brand Cocio in the UK.

Speaking with DairyReporter.com, Gareth Turner, senior brand manager for dairy drinks at Arla Foods UK, confirmed reports that the company is preparing to launch the Cocio chocolate milk brand in the UK.

The Cocio brand portfolio, which includes Cocio Classic, Cocio One, Cocio Ice Latte, Cocio Milkshake Cappuccino and Cocio Milkshake Chocolate, are currently marketed in Denmark and exported to Germany, Norway and Iceland.

“It’s now our intention to bring Cocio over to the UK,” said Turner.

He was unable, however, to confirm a date for the launch.

Brand awareness

The company was established In Esbjerg, Denmark in 1951 by Anker Pallesen, a Dane inspired to begin production of chocolate milk after a visit to the US.

It was bought by Arla Foods in 2008.

Around 400,000 bottles of Cocio are now manufactured each day.

1176256_10151570215591286_939395223_n — Actress Eva Mendes was until recently the face of Cocio.

To drive awareness about the Scandinavian brand in advance of its UK launch, Arla Foods UK has drafted in London-based marketing agency, Space.

“We’ve worked with Space before on our bottled milk drinks category and found them to have a fresh and engaging approach," Turner said in a statement issued by Space. "Cocio is hugely popular in its home market and we believe there is equal potential for the brand in the UK,”

Jim Carless, head of client services at Space, added: “Cocio has a strong heritage in Denmark and our goal is to find a solid following for it in the UK market. We’re looking forward to working with Arla again and to devising a compelling launch strategy that will drive sales.”

"Scale of our ambition"

Speaking with DairyReporter.com in April 2013, brand manager Turner detailed Arla's plans to expand its dairy drinks portfolio, which until then consisted entirely of Starbucks brand ready to drink (RTD) chilled coffee products manufactured under licence.

On top of the products launched last year - a protein-enriched chocolate milk called Wing-Co and children's flavored milk brand GULP - Turner said that Arla had a "very exciting NPD pipeline" that "demonstrates the scale of our ambition."

Cocio is the latest addition to this growing list of brands, Turner added today.

“While it’s not a new product, Cocio is the latest of these new offerings," he said.