The North American market for cultured dairy products is more robust and diverse than ever. Functional products are grabbing a stronger foothold, as marketers commit resources and U.S. consumers become more serious about nutrition. Meanwhile some well-known brands have been resurrected and there is some new technology in use for cottage cheese.
Food guru Harry Balzer with New York-based the NPD Group, describes yogurt as the food of the day and everyone is trying to leverage its popularity. "In the 20 years we've done research, only pizza has such broad appeal," he says. NPR reports that 20 years ago, 9.6% of all consumers ate yogurt at least once every two weeks. In 2005, that figure had more than doubled to 20.5%. And the way Balzer explains it, the number of yogurt consumers keeps growing.