Dairy Top Stories

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Liquid sugar made from raw cane; Dry sweetener adds maple flavor; Natural, high-intensity sweeteners; Plus More!

Maximizing product protection, freshness, convenience and shelf appeal govern packaging decisions about dairy foods. These goals are driving interest in aseptic filling, in-mold labeling, single-serving sizes and functional features.

For a fermented dairy beverage that originated in the Caucasus Mountains more than 2,000 years ago, kefir sure is having a moment. Innova Market Insights reports that the number of kefir launches grew more than threefold globally between 2011 and 2016. In the United States, beverages featuring kefir accounted for 40% of the drinking yogurt/fermented beverage introductions in 2016.

Growing consumer demand for natural and clean-label products has sparked a movement in the food industry. Specialty and organic retailers are on the rise and mainstream retailers are putting more natural and organic products on the shelf.

Ben & Jerry’s, Burlington, Vt. (a subsidiary of Unilever), introduced Pint Slices, a round single serving of ice cream covered in a chocolate coating.

Chobani’s mission has been clear from the start: make better food for more people. It emphasizes that just as much today as when the company was founded by chairman and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya in 2007.

Voting has begun to select the Dairy Foods 2017 Dairy Plant of the Year.  The 14 U.S. dairy processing companies manufacture fluid milk, cheese, ice cream or cultured dairy products.

In 2016, to accommodate its growth, Norwich, N.Y.-based Chobani invested $100 million to complete a 300,000-square-foot expansion to its manufacturing facility in Twin Falls, Idaho. Now totally 1,000,000 square feet, the plant (which opened in 2013) is said to be the largest yogurt manufacturing facility in the world.