For today’s lesson in anthropology, let’s consider the residents of the great state of Maine. The native-born citizens are fiercely proud of their heritage. They refer to themselves as Maineiacs.
Greek yogurt is dominating the cultured dairy category and has pushed conventional yogurt to the forefront. Other food processors use the cultured products as ingredients in snacks and cereals, and consumers use the yogurts in recipes.
Greek yogurt is leading the way in new product innovations and helping to keep yogurt on everyone’s radar. Processors continue to introduce new yogurt flavors in Greek and regular, and many are finding new ways to incorporate yogurt into other foods.
Ice cream makers still use chocolate, but their newer, edgier flavors include tropical fruits, lemons and coconuts. And then there’s avocado ice cream.
Natural cheese continues to dominate the cheese aisle as the popularity of healthier products remains high with consumers. Meanwhile, most processed cheese products continue to miss the mark as sales drop.
Advances in membrane technology, microbiological techniques and analytical testing help the dairy industry produce new products, improve processing efficiency and gain greater control over manufacturing processes.
Recent advances in dairy science and manufacturing technologies are helping to lead the way to better, safer and more economical products. In particular, advances in membrane technology, microbiological techniques and analytical testing are helping the dairy industry to produce new products, improve processing efficiency and gain greater control over manufacturing processes. As the science continues to grow, we are entering an exciting time for the dairy industry.
With a few exceptions (for example, raw milk cheeses), dairy processing includes a highly effective kill step that effectively controls pathogens that may be present in the raw material, and specifically raw milk.
Oakhurst Dairy of Maine processes quality dairy and nondairy beverages and cultured products for its retail, commercial and private-label customers. It also operates a successful sustainability program that reduces energy, water and waste.
Ask anyone what they know about Maine and you’ll probably hear “lobster, lighthouses and L.L. Bean.” Milk? Probably not, because Maine isn’t a top dairy state. There are just four milk plants (and eight bulk tank units) in Maine, according to the most recent Interstate Milk Shippers List.
While Shamrock Farms, Phoenix, is hitting lacrosse fields across the country this spring, the California dairy industry is appealing to the state’s Hispanic consumers.
Yogurt is a bright star in the dairy firmament, and brands are seizing the opportunity. Chobani took to the air with television ads during the Oscar ceremonies. Muller Quaker Dairy expands distribution into the Midwest and Southeast.
April 15, 2013
Everybody loves yogurt: dairy farmers, dairy processors, industry vendors, retailers and consumers. Yogurt production in the United States rose 4.2% from 2011 to 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Consumers are embracing a wide variety of money-saving strategies, states Chicago-based market researcher SymphonyIRI Group in its new report, “2012 CPG Year in Review: Finding the New Normal.”
Perry's developed a Tropical Neapolitan ice cream (mango, coconut and pineapple) and Movie Time (popcorn-flavored ice cream with sea salt caramel swirls and caramel truffles).
March 22, 2013
Honors for the most innovative ice cream flavor went to Tropical Neapolitan, a fruity combination of mango, coconut and pineapple, entered by Perry’s Ice Cream. Movie Time, Perry's popcorn-flavored ice cream with sea salt caramel swirls and caramel truffles, won most innovative prototype flavor.
At any given time, a processor might have these issues simmering (or boiling) on the front and back burners: food safety, employee safety, product development, customer management, marketing and trade show attendance. You’re going to need a bigger stove.
Change can often be a deeply unsettling process that tests our faith and our resolve,” writes Robert Holden, author of the books “Shift Happens” and “Success Intelligence.” “Yet if we learn to handle change well, we can open ourselves up to new levels of creativity and success.”
There is more than one route to reducing calories in frozen desserts. The choice of dairy ingredients, sweeteners and processing techniques all play a role.
For years, processors have reduced the fat and total sugars in a wide variety of frozen dessert formats with varying degrees of technical, nutritional, sensory and economic success.
The GMF is an in-line filling machine with several features to optimize production and reduce waste, while giving several possibilities for filling with ice cream and water ice.
A new sanitary clean-in-place Vibroscreen Double-Deck Screener from Kason Corp. removes oversize and undersize particles from on-size powder and bulk food and dairy products.
T.D. Sawvel’s Model 118 Dual Station volumetric filler was designed for packing fresh churned butter or similar product into bulk boxes ranging from 20 to 68 pounds.
Synerlink’s highly accurate volumetric fillers are suitable for extended-shelf-life chilled dairy products such as yogurts, desserts and fruit preparations.
The Tetra Pak A6 iLine for Tetra Evero Aseptic brings dairy producers a cost effective and efficient packaging solution for ambient white milk in a carton bottle.
Alfa Laval’s Unique PMO mixproof valves include throttling edges on the upper and lower plugs of each valve to accelerate the cleaning fluid and to ensure maximum efficiency in the use of CIP to clean valve seats. This mechanical “scouring” effect enables faster, more thorough cleaning with the absolute minimum amount of CIP fluid. The Unique PMO is equipped with a fully maintainable actuator, designed to further optimize and conserve CIP fluids.
The new generation of high-speed E-PH90UC half-gallon gable-top carton fillers from Elopak offers improved reliability and minimized mechanical adjustments
Dairy processors are using water more efficiently. That’s a good thing because the costs of this resource (incoming and discharging) will only continue to increase.
Water is essential to life. Approximately 70% of the human body is made up of water and about 75% of our planet is covered in water. With that much water in and around us it would seem that water would be cheap and abundant. But that isn’t always the case.
Laboratory testing in a dairy plant is primarily divided into ingredients, in-process product, finished product, environmental testing and equipment start-up. All of these categories can be evaluated for quality and safety targets.
Pumps and valves need to be cleaned thoroughly to eliminate allergens. Temperature, pressure, velocity and cleaning solution are some of the parameters to follow.
April 18, 2013
Pumps and valves move raw and pasteurized dairy products throughout a processing plant. As part of Dairy Foods’ focus on food safety this month, we asked equipment suppliers to share best practices in cleaning pumps and valves. Here is what they had to say.
A new test for detecting foodborne Salmonellawith the DuPont BAX system has been certified as Performance Tested method #081201 by the AOAC Research Institute. This assay uses polymerase chain reaction technology with real-time detection to deliver accurate results quickly.