Czech-Beijing BeYoghurt Launches Sugar-Free Yoghurt, Discusses Brand History and Keeping Things Fresh

BeYoghurt, a Czech-Beijing yogurt brand started life, in true Beijing style, in a hutong kitchen, and is now filling up the shelves in all of our favorite shops fast with customers preferring the fresh yogurt to imported long-life products. Recently, they launched a sugar-free rendition too.

We asked Luca Lee, BeYoghurt’s co-founder, about the early beginnings of the brand and about what it takes to produce fresh yogurt for Beijing’s hungry local and expat communities. 

Where are you guys from, and what is the story behind BeYoghurt?
Our founder David Vichra grew up on a traditional Czech farm. His whole family works for Madeta, the biggest dairy producer in the Czech Republic, and he is an expert in dairy product development and innovation. We initially co-started a bakery venture with another friend we share in the hutong area of the West District. However, we found that local Chinese were queuing up only for our hand-made yogurt instead of coffee. That is when we started to deliver packaged yogurts to local offices and shops, and we began to see good returns. 

To meet a fast-growing demand for our fresh yogurts, and gaining from my 5 years of experience in the FMCG industry, particularly in the area of F&B merchandizing and supply chain management, we now have a European-standard production line outside of Beijing, and we are delivering to more than 50 shops and restaurants in Beijing everyday.
 

Is it hard to source ingredients in Beijing? 
Yes, it is difficult to source ingredients (or raw materials) in China. The problem doesn’t lie with choices, but with freshness. We believe that the habit of eating stale food or foods with long shelf life is one main cause of the many chronic digestion diseases and food-toxic induced cancers in China. Therefore, we source our raw material from the nearest locations possible in an effort to keep them fresh, which also enables us to keep close oversight over the quality of our ingredients.

Do you find it hard to appease both Western and Chinese tastes?
We don't intend in any way to appeal to any customers. We believe there is only one standard for F&B consumer products, which is the safest and healthiest product.

We certainly do not claim to be the tastiest yogurt in town, and it is a false statement for any other food brands to make, because taste is so nuanced and individualized. But we do put a lot of effort in the research of important indexes for yogurt products such as nutrition, texture, and smell, for example, which, in our experience, Chinese and foreign customers concern themselves about equally.

Where is your product available? 
Currently, we are selling in the major imported goods chains such as April Gourmet, Jenny Lou's, and more. You can also find our yogurt on breakfast and brunch menus such as at Cafe Zarah (often combined with Miss Muesli products), and our yogurts will soon be found in a range of convenience stores (for example Yonghegong favorite Chez Gerard also known as 'the French shop') and other supermarkets as well.

And finally, what’s next for BeYoghurt?
BeYogurt is currently building its own 'Yogurt Lab' inside our factory. We will be working with food nutritionists from major universities in mainland China and Hong Kong, to not only experiment flavor combinations, but also to carry out research on the functional aspects of dairy products.

More stories by this author here.
Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
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Photos courtesy of BeYoghurt