Co Yo is going global

Co Yo production manager Dennis Teichmann.

Renee Pilcher

AN idea came to Henry Gosling at 2 o'clock one morning - that idea is now a hugely successful yoghurt business that's going global.

"A UK facility is now up and running and Co Yo is looking to take it to New Zealand," Co Yo production manager and engineer Dennis Teichmann said.

"There's also a fellow in the US who wants the yoghurt as soon as possible and after that we'll probably take it to the Netherlands.

"It's local companies going all over the world.

"A small business can always make it if they put into it what they want to get out of it."

Henry's Yandina company, Co Yo (coconut yoghurt), joined forces with Dick Schroder's Cooloola Milk at Gilldora to produce a non-dairy, plant-based product made from pure coconut.

"The health properties of yoghurt have been known for decades. However, it's only in the last couple of years that coconut has been widely recognised as a super food," Mr Gosling said.

Mr Teichmann said the coconut yoghurt also had "a lot of health benefits and is good for children with autism".

"ALL the research has been done by Henry and his wife Sandra; they found out the health benefits of coconut."

It turns out Henry has known Dennis for about 10 years and Dick for about 15 years, Dennis having worked for Henry at Kenilworth Country Foods when Henry was general manager.

"During the last couple of years I was there, I was production manager," Mr Teichmann said.

"I went to the States to set up a factory for Queensland Yoghurt and while I was over there, I was conversing with Henry and Sandra who were experimenting with a coconut powder.

"When I came back Henry asked me to work with him.

"It was trial and error and then we got a recipe for yoghurt."

The company makes a natural coconut yoghurt, a mixed berry, mango and a passionfruit flavour - all tropical flavours that are sold at The Wild Harvest Company in Reef St.

"We get our fruit from Sunshine Tropical Nambour and they have it heat treated. We don't use sugar, but use a sweetener made from the bark of a birch tree in the Netherlands. We're going to start catering for vegans because the culture is a plant-based culture."

Co Yo also has a Facebook page, which Mr Teichmann says has some very positive feedback.

"They let us know what they think - things like 'I didn't know yoghurt could taste so good'," he said.

Already the product's potential is being realised for more than just a delicious yoghurt - it has been used to cook chicken for a Thai flavour, mixed with chilli sauce for a dip, used in pina coladas and in pumpkin soup.

Oddly enough Mr Teichmann doesn't eat much yoghurt.

"Because I sample so much of it while making it," he said wryly.

QUICK FACTS

• Gilldora company Cooloola Milk and Yandina company Co Yo have joined forces to make a pure coconut yoghurt
• The yoghurt is a pure plant-based culture
• One batch makes 4000 x 400g tubs
• Flavours are natural coconut, mixed berries, mango, passionfruit
• Co Yo is now manufactured and sold in the UK