Congress recently approved the agricultural appropriations bill, and within it is a provision that will help restore a portion of the original USDA National Organic Program's rules, that was altered by a federal court decision.
One of Tillamook Cheese's most popular marketing campaigns, vaguely reminiscent of a Monty Python skit, featured a band of Swiss knights out to steal the cheese from Tillamook. "Cheese well worth stealing" went the tagline. Well, if you ask anyone in the organization why Tillamook cheese is worth stealing they'll tell you about the great fresh milk, a cheesemaking process that takes no shortcuts and a workforce that pays close attention to detail.
A few years back I had the opportunity to shed some sweat on an Illinois farm. It was for a series of newspaper articles about farming. About once each week from April to November I spent a day with the McLachlan family who worked about 800 acres in the central part of the state. Flat as a pool table, their land was blessed with black soil eight feet deep. They grew corn and beans from their porches to the speed limit signs. The family had been working the same land for more than 100 years.
When dairy processors look back on 2005 in the years to come what will they remember most? Was it the year of the yogurt smoothie? How about the year of the great school milk package debate? It was certainly a year when the U.S. industry and that of the rest of the world came together in many ways. Two traveling international events came to our shores this year, and Worldwide Food Expo helped showcase our industry for the world.
Looking at two different gauges of retail cheese sales, it easy to conclude that cheese sales are stuck in low gear. First, consider the top ten brands of natural cheese chunks. This is a core subcategory for cheese. In the 52 weeks ended Oct. 2, dollar sales for all brands measured were up just 2.5%. Unit sales were actually off by 1%. These figures, courtesy of Information Resources Inc., are for supermarket, drugstore and mass merchandiser sales excluding Wal-Mart. They do not reflect foodservice or convenience channel sales.
It can be entertaining to see how foreign marketers try to give their product lines an American twist. Mishaps in translation can provide a giggle or two. For example, one company exhibiting at ANUGA touted its whey-based drink as a bewitching beverage. Running with images that combined a black-hat witch and something resembling Coors Light's Elvira, this company was marketing whey as a source of power. (The power to cast a spell, I guess!)
The shelf-life of ice cream is determined by when, and under what conditions, a product feature fails. Microbiological, chemical and some physical features rarely change after ice cream is hardened, stored or distributed. However, sensory properties-flavor, body and texture-do change when ice cream is exposed to high temperatures and temperature fluctuations (i.e., heat shock).
Norse Dairy Systems, (NDS) Columbus, Ohio made a big splash at Worldwide Food Expo with several new systems including a new automated ice cream sandwich system offering a 60% reduction in labor.
The World ChurnsSlow Churned, Double Churned, now another ice cream company is introducing a lower fat product with the word Churn in the name. Yarnell's Ice Cream Co. of Arkansas
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