Kimberly Decker

If it weren’t for chocolate milk, there might be some people — perhaps dear reader, even you — who wouldn’t drink much milk at all. Indeed, chocolate milk is a perennially bright star in the dairy firmament, and with fall’s ushering in of the new school year, its glow is bound to grow brighter.

The consensus following this year’s Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting and expo in Chicago is that the trend driving current food and beverage development is clean labeling. But you already knew that.

High-protein foods figure prominently on IRI’s list of the most successful food and beverage launches of 2015. Alongside Oscar Mayer deli meat and Cheerios Protein, were Dannon Oikos Triple Zero yogurt, Yoplait Greek 100 Whips and fairlife milk.

With the world’s population expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, farmers and dairy processors have been on the hunt for solutions to feed so many people. One realization is that the same cultures and enzymes used to transform milk into cheese and yogurt can be warriors against waste. 

Since 1998, the International Food Information Council has taken Americans’ temperature on the topic of functional foods and beverages. The IFIC assesses their attitudes and awareness and gives the industry an idea of precisely what consumers look for when they shop for products that promise benefits beyond basic nutrition.

If there’s a universal truth we can all count on, it’s that America’s three favorite ice-cream flavors will always be vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Right? Wrong. Per the International Dairy Foods Association, Washington, D.C., our top three picks last year were vanilla, chocolate and butter pecan.

One of the most attention-grabbing features of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is the conclusion that added sugars should contribute less than 10% of the calories a person takes in on a typical day. Not to be outdone, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a dedicated “added sugars” line on a soon-to-be-updated Nutrition Facts panel.

Coffeehouses are satisfying the Millennial generation’s need for new taste experiences. Look to your neighborhood barista for ideas and then translate them into RTD beverages.

Nuts, chocolate, fruit and other inclusions can elevate dairy foods from ho-hum to top-shelf.

As consumers follow advice from health and wellness experts to eat more protein, food marketers, including dairy companies, are running with that message. Protein is one nutrient that has legs.