Articles by Brian Berk

Mark Braun, president and CEO, and Arturo Nava, senior marketing director at Hispanic Cheese Makers, known for its Nuestro Queso brand, join us for Episode 53 of the “Let’s Talk Dairy” podcast to discuss Hispanic trends.

Oftentimes, Inside the Plant features look in-depth at the processing of dairy products. This issue, we change up the story and look at the fascinating process of flavor formulation and recipes at Land O’Lakes’ 8,400-square-foot Culinary Center. 

Immediately upon walking into Land O’Lakes Inc.’s headquarters, the first thing one might notice is the family-friendly atmosphere.

“Ain’t no stopping us now. We’re on the move.” Turn on a radio and you may still hear that McFadden & Whitehead 1979 disco song. Those lyrics well define cottage cheese: There is currently no stopping its growth. 

A couple of months ago, I opined the success of the dairy industry has been underreported. This month, I have the numbers to back up this comment. 

One would think that fibers related to promoting health and wellness, specifically digestive health and immune health, would be growing nicely today. 

The ready-to-drink (RTD) market keeps reaching new heights. The global market size was valued at $766.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $804.8 billion this year, according to a February report from Fortune Business Insights.

On April 10, Symrise celebrated World Vanilla Day with a plethora of vanilla taste tests and a keynote speech from author Paula Limena.
The event, taking place on New York City’s Park Avenue, is in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of vanillin in 1874.

Overall, it has been a strong past 52 weeks for cheese, especially when looking at the natural cheese category. There were some pockets of weakness however, mainly the processed cheese and grated cheese subcategories, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana’s data for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 26.

It is of course anecdotal, but I have noticed a major shift in consumer trends toward dairy products in the last several months. This is definitely something for the dairy industry to capitalize on.