I would like to start by congratulating Chobani LLC as the 2024 Dairy Foods Processor of the Year recipient. The company has revolutionized Greek yogurt in the North American market and has been at the forefront of the health of wellness trend. 

The company is not stopping there. The company assures us there is plenty of new yogurt products coming down the pike, including its recent high-protein launch. Chobani has also gone beyond yogurt to oat milk, coffee creamers, and of course, its purchase of La Colombe, with ready-to-drink coffee beverages providing plenty of growth moving forward.

But Chobani is about so much more than processing. The company introduced shelf-stable milk, called Super Milk, which is providing a nutritious boost to those in need. As you will see in our story this month, 250,000 cartons of Super Milk were distributed in seven states in the wake of the Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton disasters. 

Beyond Super Milk, Chobani, led by Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, provides tremendous assistance for refugees, those in the military, as well as offering nutritious food options to people living in “food desserts” throughout the United States as hunger continues to rise.

I look forward to officially presenting Chobani executives with our 2024 Processor of the Year award at IDFA Dairy Forum, and hope to meet many other dairy processors while in San Antonio next month.

The Chobani feature caps off an excellent year of Dairy Foods processor features. Maine’s Pineland Farms, Minnesota-based Crystal Farms, Wisconsin’s LaClare Creamery, Illinois-based Prairie Farms, Cincinnati-based Graeter’s Ice Cream, Illinois-based Lifeway Foods, and our Plant of the Year, HP Hood’s facility in Batavia, N.Y., were all highlighted in 2024. It is fair to say we did plenty of traveling this year and earned our frequent flyer miles.

Of course, I did not even mention our 125th anniversary until now. It was a pleasure piecing that feature together last month, and we enjoyed our trip down memory lane. We hope you did too.

Hence, 2024 marked an impressive year for Dairy Foods magazine. We expect 2025 to be an equally great year. We already have two great “Processor Profile/Inside the Plant” features lined up, with Shoreham, Vt.-based Animal Farm Creamery, known for being the brand referred to as “Orwellian butter” during Season 3, Episode 3 of hit TV show “The Bear” on tap for next month. In February, we highlight Dallas-based Kaurina’s Kulfi, which is enjoying tremendous growth in the frozen novelty category.

I would also like to announce Dairy Foods will introduce a Dairy Product of the Year in 2025, which our audience will vote for. Look for that in the October issue. Of course, we will continue to spotlight cheese, milk, cultured dairy, and ice cream processors doing incredible work along with new products, packaging, and supplier article,s and expert commentary from our knowledgeable columnists. Next year, popular features will include our Breakthrough Award for Ingredient Innovation, the Dairy Top 100, Plant of the Year, and Processor of the Year along with special issues dedicated to Ingredients, Sustainability, and the State of the Industry.

We wish everyone happy holidays and a wonderful new year. See you in 2025!