In the Netherlands, Mona has been synonymous with dairy desserts (both tart and sweet) since the early 1970s. And ever since the introduction of the first dessert (fruit yoghurt), Mona has stood for convenience and tasty dairy desserts. Dutch consumers eat 250,000 Mona desserts every day, which adds up to a total of over 90 million a year.
Mona offers scores of different products, ranging from (drink) yoghurts and quark desserts to custards and chocolate mousses. Freshness and high quality are the hallmarks of Mona products.
Innovations
Time and again Mona surprises Dutch consumers with new and renewed flavour sensations. Innovations include Mona Luchtige (light and airy) Yoghurt Pudding and the new Mona Boordevol flavours (creamy and full of fruit).
Mona is not only the brains behind the new tasty desserts, but came up with the word ‘toetje’, (in Dutch, ‘toe’ can mean ‘after’ as in after a meal). Advertisements featuring Ted de Braak (a Dutch celebrity) also helped (Act like a Mona ‘toetje’).
Dessert of the Month
Unique, too, is the ‘Toetje van de Maand’ (Dessert of the Month), which delights dairy lovers with a new flavour every month. Since 1993 over 175 of these Desserts of the Month have been developed, culminating each year in the annual selection of the Dessert of the Year. The winning flavour is given a permanent place in Mona’s product range of desserts.
Early years
When Mona introduced the very first desserts back in 1970, the selection was limited: fruit yoghurt, Bulgarian yoghurt and sour cream. However, the product range was quickly expanded.
Mona truly gained recognition with the introduction of puddings in family-size packages. In particular, the semolina pudding with red sauce was and is incredibly popular among Dutch consumers.
http://www.mona.nl
1970 20 July marks the launch of Mona
1972 light and airy fruit quark
1973 chocolate mousse and advertisement featuring Ted de Braak (Dutch celebrity)
1974 introduction of Yoki Drink drink yoghurt
1975 large family-size puddings (including semolina pudding, which continues to be popular)
1983 Mona becomes an independent division within Melkunie
1985 introduction of Biogarde yoghurt
1986 first year in which 100 million desserts were sold
1991 Yomild (yoghurt made using right-turning lactic acid), a novelty in the Netherlands)
1992 introduction of Cirkant packaging
1993 introduction ‘Toetje van de Maand’ (Dessert of the Month)
1994 introduction of Vifit and, for the first time, 200 million desserts are sold in one year