Welcome to the second century of Dairy Field, and with it, a whole new look.

This year marks 100 years for DF, which began in 1905 as the Ice Cream Trade Journal and has gone through numerous incarnations in its evolution to its current form, the industry’s leading source of news and information.

We plan to spend a good chunk of this year looking back on our history and that of the dairy industry, while continuing to bring you the latest information on how processors can continue to maximize their opportunities for success in the competitive marketplace. We’ll kick off the “official” celebration in our February issue.

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the magazine in front of you now. A new year and a new century of existence demanded a bold new design befitting dairy’s leading publication, one we feel is more reader-friendly as well as more reflective of the dynamic changes taking place in the industry as processors face new challenges in manufacturing and keeping pace with consumers’ wants and needs.

Among the features launching in this issue is a new monthly column penned by our senior editor, Pamela Accetta Smith, whose knowledge and insight are no strangers to our readers. Her missives, to be found at the other end of the magazine, will focus on marketing issues and how the industry is positioning itself to stay top of mind and stomach with consumers.

And as wellness issues grow in prominence for the food industry, we’re pleased to introduce Health Watch, a new column on dairy nutrition, written for us by the experts at the Dairy Council of California. Health Watch will run quarterly in our R&D section.

I’ll let you discover for yourself the other changes — some subtle, others not – that we hope make DF a more exciting part of your reading routine.

As an accompaniment to our annual ice cream report in this issue, we’re pleased to bring you our visit to Wells’ Dairy Inc. and the folks who make Blue Bunny a leader in frozen desserts.

So let our redesign be the whipped cream and cherry on this month of sundaes.