Park Cheese Co.

Park Cheese Co., Fond du Lac, Wis., recently rolled out two shredded cheese blends under the Casaro brand. Italian 4-Cheese Blend unites the sharp flavors of aged Provolone and Romano cheeses with buttery hints from Parmesan and Asiago. The Mediterranean 4-Cheese Blend features sharp Provolone, feta, Kasseri and Romano cheeses. Both blends come in 6- or 20-oz resealable cups.



Good Humor-Breyers

There is something missing from the ice cream aisle. And thanks to innovative frozen dessert manu-facturers, it is not taste, nor variety. It is carbohydrates. With an estimated 30 to 50 million Americans trying to cut carbs from their diets, Good Humor-Breyers, Green Bay, Wis., has developed Breyers® CarbSmart™ Ice Cream and a line of frozen novelties under the Klondike® CarbSmart brand. Both products debuted in grocery stores nationwide at the end of September.



"Over the last couple of years, more than four in 10 adults have made an effort to cut their carb intake, creating a huge demand for foods with fewer carbohydrates," says Terry Olson, v.p. of market-ing and development. "With the introduction of CarbSmart ice cream and novelties, we will offer carb counters a dessert alternative that will help them meet their carbohydrate goals."



"Breyers CarbSmart Ice Cream comes in three of the most popular ice cream flavors-vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. All three contain 130 calories per half-cup serving and just 4g net carbohy-drate (10g total carbs, minus dietary fiber and sugar alcohol). As a basis for comparison, premium va-nilla ice cream typically contains between 15g and 17g of total carbohydrate per serving.

"Under the Klondike CarbSmart banner, the 3-oz vanilla ice cream bar with milk chocolate-flavored coating contains 170 calories and 5g net carbohydrate, while the 3.5-oz fudge bar contains 100 calories and 3g net carbohydrate. All of the products are sweetened with sucralose.



International: Friesche Vlag

This past March, Friesche Vlag rolled out the first products from its new 100 million Euros specialty plant in Nijkerk, The Netherlands. One of those products, Bollino, is a fun and delicious dairy dessert designed for kids. The pourable dessert contains novelty round pieces of chocolate and comes in three flavors: Banana, Caramel and Vanilla. Bollino is packaged in 1-liter cartons.



Tillamook County Creamery Assn.

To meet the demand for convenient products designed for busy lifestyles, the Tillamook County Creamery Assn., Tillamook, Ore., introduces Tilla-Moos. Tilla-Moos are individually wrapped 0.75-oz portions of Tillamook® cheese that are sold in 10-pack bags called Pack-it-Pals.

Two varieties are available: Colby Jack and medium Cheddar. The snacking cheeses are avail-able in the Northwest, Northern California and Southern California.

"We've found that consumers are looking for fast, nutritious snacks, and our all-natural cheeses are a good fit for anything from a child's lunch to a fishing or camping trip," says Kathy Holstad, mar-keting director. "We expect these to be quite popular with consumers."

Tillamook cheese has won numerous awards and is one of the top-selling branded natural cheeses in the country. Tillamook Cheddar is made daily from fresh milk supplied by member farmers, using Tillamook's 100-year-old recipe, and is aged naturally, the old-fashioned way, with no additives or preservatives.



Mac Farms Co.

Mac Farms Co., Burlington, Mass., with assistance from Cornell University's Department of Food Science, Ithaca, N.Y., has created a carbonated nutritious milk beverage tar-geted to young adults. Called Refreshing Power Milk, or RPM, the beverages are made at a new dairy plant run by Mac Farms in Cooperstown, N.Y. Earlier this summer, a $100,000 grant was awarded to Mac Farms by the New York State Department of Economic Development. The plant is expected to create at least 25 new jobs during the next three years. Mac Farms is the company that introduced e-Moo, the carbonated milk drink for children, also the product of Cornell research.



"Most milk beverages are focused on children. With a different nutritional, fat, sweetness and flavor profile, RPM is targeted to an older category, young adults," says Cornell professor of food sci-ence Joseph Hotchkiss. Working with Cornell research microbiologist Brenda Werner, Hotchkiss spent a year examining and developing RPM's nutrient content, performing sensory analysis and determining product shelflife. RPM comes in Vanilla Cappuccino, Brazilian Chocolate and Chocolate Raspberry flavors.

"The drink provides young adults with a healthful alternative to sports and non-nutritional, fluid-replacement beverages," says Mary Ann Clark, Mac Farms' v.p. for technical services. "RPM," she says, "provides 40% of the daily Reference Daily Intakes for calcium, 10% for magnesium and 15% for potassium. "It is lactose-free, fat-free, low in calories and contains the same nutrition found in grade-A skim milk."

Carbonation extends shelflife up to eight weeks. It also makes the beverage refreshing. It enhances mouthfeel and flavor, according to Hotchkiss.



Noteworthy Introductions

Orrville, Ohio-basedSmith Dairy Products Co., has updated the packaging for Moovers® Santa and Mrs. Claus traditional eggnog, as well as for the low-fat custard-style Toy Soldier eggnog. "Seasonal packaging and products like eggnog spark retail sales," says Bill McCabe, v.p. of marketing. "The . . . package design encourages impulse purchases."

The low-fat eggnog has less than half the fat grams per serving as compared to the traditional style, yet still has a rich, creamy taste, the company says. Both varieties are ultra-pasteurized for extended shelflife. Suggested retail price is $2.39 for the 30-oz bottle and $1.19 for the 11-oz single-serve.



The Jel Sert Co., Chicago, introduces three items for the freezer. All non-dairy, these water ices are sold at am-bient temperature, and should be frozen once brought home. Keebler® Fudge Shoppe™ Fudge Pops are made with real co-coa, while Colombia's Best Coffee Ices® have that real Co-lombian coffee kick to them. Wyler's® Light Sorbet Bars, based on the popular sugar-free powdered drink mix, contain only 35 calories per 2-oz tube.



To make it easier to bring home smoothies for on-the-go drinking,Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, N.H., now sells its popular Strawberry Smoothie in four-packs of 6-oz bottles. The multi-packs are available at Whole Foods, Wild Oats and other select natural foods and grocery retailers nationwide.



Perfect as a holiday dinner party dessert,Cold Stone Creamery, Scottsdale, Ariz., now offers its own version of pumpkin pie, which pumpkin-flavored ice cream with pieces of crumbled graham cracker pie crust, whipped topping and a graham cracker pie crust shell. For immediate consump-tion, the company has concocted two new frozen treat combi-nations. Harvest Crunch™ is pumpkin-flavored ice cream with crunchy Heath® Bar, melt-in-your-mouth caramel and wal-nuts. Pumpkin Pie in the Sky™ is pumpkin-flavored ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, caramel and fluffy whipped topping.