Danone said it bought toppings producer YoCrunch as the world's biggest yogurt maker expands in the US.

YoCrunch, which was founded in 1985, has net sales of $110 million and has had double-digit growth in recent years, Paris-based Danone said in a statement yesterday. It is the market leader for yogurts with flavoured toppings, it said.

Danone didn't disclose an amount for its purchase of the closely held company. Danone is adding to its US dairy business to make up for western European consumers switching to cheaper private labels in the debt-burdened region. US yogurt sales are forecast to increase to $8.4 billion by 2018 from $6.5 billion last year, according to data from Mintel.

Danone accounts for about 30 per cent of the market, figures from Euromonitor International show. – (Bloomberg)