Molkerei Alois Mller GmbH & Co. KG or Mller is a multinational producer of dairy products, with

Molkerei Alois Müller GmbH & Co. KG or Müller is a multinational producer of dairy products, with headquarters in the German state of Bavaria. Founded as a family dairy farm in 1896 by Ludwig Müller, today his grandson Theo owns the successful business.
Müller is mostly well-known for its yogurts, and in this product area it is market leader in Germany and the UK, where its most well-known product is the ‘Müller Corner yogurt’. The name ‘corner’ is in reference to the design of the product.
In 2012 Müller yogurts entered the US market through a joint venture between PepsiCo and Müller. The name of the joint venture is ‘Muller Quaker Dairy’. The Müller Group has subsidiaries in the nearby European markets, such as the UK, Italy and Spain. However, in most export markets outside Europe, Müller mostly uses distributors for selling its yogurts to the grocery retailers in the different countries. One of Müller’s best-selling products in USA was the Greek-style yoghurt. In 2017 the Müller 

Group achieved a turnover of €6 billion and had 27,000 employees.
In December 2015, just two and half years after opening the US$206 million factory in Batavia, New York, PepsiCo (Quaker) and the Müller Group agreed to count their losses and exit their joint venture Muller Quaker Dairy. The plant was sold to Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).
After determining that the business was not meeting expectations in this competitive and dynamic marketplace, it was mutually agreed by PepsiCo and Müller Group that it would be in both companies’ interests to exit the joint venture. Following this decision, Müller also now concentrates its marketing efforts for yoghurts on other markets than United States.
Industry experts think that the Müller brand did not really resonate with US consumers. Among potential consumers there was not any perception of brand identity or connection to its name. The Müller packaging was very traditional, and it did not stand out on the retailers’ shelves. Chobani’s flip Greekstyle yoghurt product was perceived as superior in quality, and since the two competitor products were selling at the same price, Chobani always won.
Chobani is an American brand of Greek-style yogurt produced by Chobani LLC. The company was founded in 2005 when Hamdi Ulukaya bought a plant in the town of South Edmeston, New York, that was being closed by Kraft Foods. Ulukaya hired several of the former Kraft employees as well as a ‘yogurt master’ and launched his brand in 2007.
Both Müller and Chobani sold thick, Greek-style yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional yogurt and were among one of the main companies to popularize this style of yogurt. Both companies promoted their products as healthy food.
At the beginning of 2019, Chobani was no. 1 brand in Greek-style yoghurts.
Questions
1. What are the most important external factors that would influence Müller’s future sales of yogurts in the United States?
2. What are the main reasons why Müller was using a joint venture solution with PepsiCo (Quaker) for the US market?
3. What were the main reasons for Müller’s withdrawal from the US market? Was it a wise decision?