Dairy Foods & Beverages

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You won't find any fancy feeder hoppers or blenders in Praline's Inc.'s Wallingford, Conn., ice cream processing, distribution and headquarters facility. The company believes that the old-fashioned methods still yield the best-tasting ice cream. So plant employees start with a high-quality base, then mix in the variegates and inclusions by hand.

Imagine cheese carefully handcrafted by someone trained in a top artisanal cheesemaking course in Wisconsin. The individual is so passionate about cheeses that each vat of curd is stirred by hand, and the product is closely monitored throughout the entire cheesemaking process.

The cultured dairy segment is seeing its ups and downs. Yogurt, once the driving force, has seen sales struggle of late. Concurrently, other cultured categories such as cream cheese and sour cream are holding their ground or trying to push ahead.

Bees are critical to one-third of the world's crops, including ingredients that are used in more than one-third of Haagen-Dazs ice cream flavors. However, their numbers continue to dwindle, an estimated one-third of honey bee colonies were lost between April 2016 and March 2017, Haagen-Dazs said.

The cheese is available in six sliced varieties, including medium cheddar, American-style Colby and mozzarella.

Compared to many other ice cream processors, Wallingford, Conn.-based Praline’s Inc. runs a rather small operation. The 34-year-old company got its start with a single Praline’s ice cream store in Wallingford; it later sold that shop through a franchise agreement to exit retail and enter the ice cream-making business full time.

The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) announced the creation of three new awards to recognize leaders who have contributed to the growth and advancement of the World and U.S. Championship Cheese Contests.