PepsiCo German Venture To Sell Yogurt In U.S.

July 9 (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc will start selling yogurt in the United States this month through a joint venture with Germany's Theo Muller Group as the beverage and snack company moves to diversify its portfolio, it said on Monday.

The venture, Muller Quaker Dairy, will start selling three different types of yogurt in the U.S. starting in mid-July under the names Muller Corner, Muller Greek Corner and Muller FrutUp.

The products will be sold through supermarkets and club stores in 17 markets in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, PepsiCo said in a statement.

New styles of yogurt, especially Greek yogurt, are expected to drive consumption in the United States, where people eat much less yogurt than in Europe.

This is PepsiCo's first move into the dairy market in the U. S., though it acquired Wimm-Bill-Dann, Russia's largest dairy company, last year and has had a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Almarai since 2009.

The company, whose other products include Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola and Gatorade sports drink, has said it wants its portfolio of healthy products to reach $30 billion in revenue by 2020. Its healthier products include Quaker oatmeal and Tropicana orange juice.