"Live and active cultures.” You couldn’t better sum up what’s made fermented dairy such a hit with the health-and-wellness crowd. And what a hit it is: Fully 44% of consumers who choose yogurt and yogurt drinks do so because they view the products as healthier than other snack options, according to a Mintel report.
But there’s a lot of diversity within the dairy-culture community, and the bacteria that are good for consumers may not be the same that are good for optimizing the texture of a Greek-style yogurt. So while fermented dairy’s rising profile “is great news for both traditional dairy cultures and all sorts of probiotics,” the field’s diversity can “create challenges and opportunities for both dairy cultures and for probiotics,” noted Peggy Steele of DuPont Nutrition & Health, Madison, Wis.