Darin Copeland, Public Relations Manager at Prairie Farms Dairy in Edwardsville,Ill., joins Dairy Foods for a wide-ranging conversation on several trends impacting the dairy industry. Founded in 1938, Prairie Farms relies on the freshest dairy milk from more than 600 multigenerational, independent family farms to manufacture hundreds of dairy products. These include its top-selling full-fat, 2 percent, and lowfat milks in white and flavored varieties, dozens of flavors of ice cream and frozen novelties, its award-winning cottage cheese, yogurt, dips, frozen treats, and much more.

During this Special Episode of the “Let’s Talk Dairy” podcast, Copeland will be discussing lactose-free dairy trends, the latest in new product innovation, why supporting dairy farmers is crucial to Prairie Farms’ mission, and much more

In its 86th year of operation, Prairie Farms’ has a revenue of $4.6 billion, operates 47 plants in 18 states, employs more than 7,000 team members, and has its own transportation company with 5,200 trucks providing coast-to-coast distribution to 50 states.

During this podcast, Copeland discusses the following topics:

• Trends in lactose-free dairy. The National Institutes of Health notes that 30 million Americans suffer from lactose intolerance, bloating, diarrhea, etc., when consuming dairy. Prairie Farms wants to bring consumers back to dairy.
• In April and May, Prairie Farms is introducing new lactose-free cultured dairy products to consumers: a cottage cheese and a sour cream.
• While Prairie Farms has manufactured lactose-free milk in half-gallon cartons since 2013, the dairy seeks to “normalize” the production of lactose-free milk by being the first dairy to produce lactose-free milk in gallon containers. To start, this packaging size will only be available in St. Louis, but Copeland predicts a wider distribution.
• Ready-to-drink products, particularly functional products, continue to be a hot trend. Find out more about Prairie Farms’new value-added RTD coffee products made with milk.
• Why shelf-stable dairy products with a longer shelf life are trending in the dairy industry.

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