The Collective was started in New Zealand by two clever entrepreneurial chefs, Angus Allan and Ofer Shenhav. Their quest was simple: create an extraordinary yoghurt with an unbeatable taste. Kiwis caught on fast and the resulting yoghurt rapidly found new homes across the land.
What is your company background, how did you start the business?
Being well-travelled lads with a couple of successful businesses already notched on their belts, Ofer and Angus were not shy of the hard yakka ahead. Their sheer determination to achieve the unthinkable helped provide the fuel, their passion provided the key, their tenacity and skill delivered the answer.
Kiwis caught on, in fact, within 10 months of its conception The Collective was New Zealand’s best-selling gourmet yoghurt and is now a $37m RSV business (IRI, MAT to 26/07/20).
Fast-forward 10 years, and you’ll find The Collective’s yoghurts on the supermarket shelves across the UK, Australia and most recently in France.
What is the current product range and variants and how do these products stand out in the market?
Being founded by two chefs, taste is at the heart of we do at The Collective, while ensuring every one of our products is packed full of live cultures. From our signature layered thick ‘n’ creamy indulgent Gourmet range which is bursting with fruited or confectionary flavours, to our gut-loving probiotic Kefir pourable yoghurt, containing 13 diverse live culture strains… we have product ranges to suit all the family’s needs and eating occasions.
An iconic member of The Collective range is Straight Up, a yoghurt made to play with. This thick ‘n’ creamy yoghurt tastes just how yoghurt should – not too sweet, just a li’l tart. This probiotic yoghurt is as good as it gets and the perfect culinary partner… ideal for dips ‘n’ dressings, marinades and baking. And not forgetting your morning brekkies mueslis, granolas, and smoothies!
What’s more, is The Collective was the first mover in the kid’s yoghurt pouch space with our iconic Suckies, offering parents a wholesome and trusty lunchbox snack, packed full of whole milk goodness and fruit, with absolutely no nasties. Since then, we’ve continued to back the gut health trend and extended our kids range to include Kefir Probots, probiotic lactose free yoghurt pouches with no added sugar – great for getting the ‘good bugs’ into little tums.
The full The Collective ranges includes Gourmet, Just Greek, Straight Up, Scoff’rs, Kefir, Probots and Suckies.
What are the plans for the business moving forward, is there any expansion on the horizon?
It is a very exciting time for The Collective, where we will continue to lead with innovation in the yoghurt category. We kicked off our sustainable packaging journey this year with the makeover of our Kefir bottles, launching into 98% rPET bottles that can be recycled. This is just an initial step and we’re super excited for what’s next on our company journey to being committed to a more sustainable future, whilst continuing to put innovation and taste at the heart of what we do.
Where are your products currently available to buy, and are you looking at or wanting to expand your availability?
The Collective ranges are available nationwide at Countdown, New World, Pak’n’Save, Gilmours, Farro, Moore Wilson’s, Boric Food Market, Fresh Choice and Service Foods.
For more information visit thecollective.kiwi and follow on Facebook and Instagram.
