Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers ate at home more often during the past year — and many of them baked and cooked up a storm, too. That reality translated into rosy sales at retail for a number of cultured dairy categories.

Cultured dairy products, dairy products fermented with lactic acid bacteria, have been around for absolutely ages. The COVID-19 pandemic and a bit of innovation on the part of dairy processors, however, have combined to build consumer demand in a number of cultured dairy segments during the past year or so.

One of my favorite sweet flavors is passion fruit. I discovered it on a trip to Australia in 2016 - the most popular yogurt flavor in that country is passion fruit.

Though many people would say there is a lot of creativity and art involved in the development of cultured products, we all know there is a lot of technology built into the products we have today.

You might say it's a good news/bad news story within the U.S. retail cultured dairy products space. The good news? Some cultured dairy products categories posted strong recent growth.

In today's refrigerated grocery store aisles, customers can find a plethora of cultured dairy options, including yogurt/skyr, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese and kefir.

Edwardsville, Ill.-based Prairie Farms Dairy announced the expansion of its product lineup to include 12-ounce squeezable pouches of all-natural sour cream.

There's been little reason for cultured dairy processors to celebrate in recent months. During the 52 weeks ending Feb. 24, 2019, most major cultured dairy categories/subcategories saw retail dollar sales fall, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.

Cultured dairy is at a bit of a crossroads. The category, which includes products such as yogurt/skyr, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese and kefir, is searching for its place within the many competing options for breakfasts, snacks, healthful meal replacements and more.

The company also released double-cream cottage cheese with 6% milkfat.