Sensient Colors LLC, Milwaukee, Wis., announced that Sensient Food Colors Germany is now approved and certified by Halal Control.

The national effort to turn around the obesity epidemic is steering children away from soft drinks and back to milk-based beverages. The popularity of Greek yogurt has given a shot in the arm to the cultured dairy category. Natural cheese is chic, as tastings and artisanal offerings take off. Ice cream processors welcome the flavor innovators.

In a saturated landscape of cheese and dairy farmers in Wisconsin, one little goat farm is doing what it can to stand out with award-winning goat cheese and milk.

California Dairies Inc., Visalia, Calif., appointed David Treiber the senior vice president of fluid business development, reporting to Dave Bush, chief operating officer. Treiber will manage all fluid, condensed and cream sales. He comes from CDI subsidiary Challenge Dairy Products.

Two organizations managed by Dairy Management Inc., Rosemont, Ill., seek entries to their contests. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, seeks entries to its U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program. The Dairy Research Institute has issued a call for entries to its New Product Competition.

Atlanta-based Carvel, the United States’ first retail ice cream franchise, went back to its roots by bringing back its classic look — with a modern twist. It updated its stores and logo, and introduced new technologies.

Cheesemaking is all about balance and achieving consistency in the finished product. When the cheesemaker is also a dairy cooperative, there are additional and often competing concerns to balance. The farmer members of the co-op want a fair price for their milk, but the processing side doesn’t want to overpay, lest the finished product is too expensive for the market.

Communities, industries, businesses and consumers are seeking options to incorporate renewable energy for many reasons, whether it is to offset the rising cost of fossil fuels, to be energy independent or to reduce the strain of a growing population depleting finite resources.

The Practical Membrane Technology Short Course, held June 6 to 8 in Bloomington, Minn., attracted 103 participants. The short course is organized by BNP Media, owner of Dairy Foods magazine and produced by the magazine and Filtration & Membrane World LLC.

For the first time ever, the readers of Dairy Foods selected the Plant Of The Year. We asked you to vote online for one of 13 nominees. All of the nominated dairy processors had been featured in the magazine between January 2011 and June 2012. We publicized the awards program through our own social media channels, and we encouraged each of the nominated processors to do the same.

The third-generation, independently owned dairy processor manufactures milk, buttermilk, sour cream, juices, iced teas and fruit punches at its plant in Portland, Maine. It is also a leader in energy conservation.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!