Halfway through the family-owned Baker Cheese Inc. plant in St. Cloud, Wis., you'll come upon a kind of magical lazy river of cheese. Different sizes and varieties of the company's low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella string cheese float through a stream of brine.

Some people, including, most famously, Steve Jobs, say that it is better to focus on one thing and do it well. Off a nondescript state highway in east-central Wisconsin, Baker Cheese Inc. is proving the adage to be true.

Surprise bites of chocolate chips, cookie dough, pie pieces and other miniature treats have long delighted ice cream and frozen dessert consumers. But today's health-conscious eaters are asking for more from their desserts, including the inclusions within them, than an indulgent, satisfying mouthful.

From cashew to banana "milk," it seems like nondairy milk alternatives have been popping up in every imaginable form in recent years. And conventional milk has suffered from the competition.

Some residents of Oregon's largest city have sought to "Keep Portland Weird," a motto based on safeguarding the city's reputation for farmers markets, artisanal craftworks and an eccentric literary/arts scene. But before it became the de facto capital for millennial hipsters, Portland had a long history of industrial production.

A cooperative, by definition, works together for a common goal. But for Seattle-based Darigold, the marketing and processing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association (NDA), this idea of prioritizing the greater good extends beyond its business category. The cooperative’s plans for long-term growth include supporting the dairy industry as a whole.

The demand for shelf-stable and extended-shelf-life (ESL) products continues to grow. According to Transparency Market Research, the worldwide aseptic packaging market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 10.2% during the period of 2017-2024.

It seems that butter producers picked their numbers wisely. The cooking staple and flavor booster continues to show positive growth, with dollar sales of butter/butter blends up 1.3% (to $3,131.4 million) and unit sales jumping 2.5% (to 840.6 million) during the 52-week period ending Aug. 11, 2019, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.

The era of Greek yogurt cashing in big payouts has ended: The yogurt category has leveled off since the international style's introduction to the U.S. market over a decade ago.

At first glance, it seems that milk hasn't been dealt the best hand. But the beverage isn't considering folding: While purchasing numbers have declined in recent years, it's still present in 91% of American households, according to the September 2019 "Eating Trends: Meat, Dairy, Vegetarian, and Vegan" report from the Packaged Facts division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com.