APRIL 2026 vol. 127 no. 4
IN THIS ISSUE
OUR COVER THIS MONTH
Raise a glass to a new era
A relatively new CEO at the helm, a major expansion in lactose-free and ultra-processed milk, a Philadelphia plant that has more than doubled capacity in one year, and securing strategic investments of more than $100 million for on-farm sustainability practices. These are among the major milestones shaping the brand evolution of Maola Local Dairies, Herndon, Va., a farmer-owned cooperative with nearly 800 member farms, six processing plants and more than 1,000 team members.
Cover photo courtesy of Maola Local Dairies.
Inside the Plant
We visit one of Maola Local Dairies’ thriving milk processing plants, Maola Newport News in Newport News, Va., to learn more about the plant, which is the only plant in Virginia supplying low-fat milk to schools. Maola also supplies milk to military commissaries across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as local retailers like Walmart and Food Lion.
Membrane Technology
Consumer demand for lactose-free and lactose-reduced dairy products continues to grow, leading processors to turn to advanced membrane filtration technologies to remove lactose while preserving valuable milk components. According to Global Growth Insights, the global lactose-free dairy products market is projected to reach about $12.54 billion in 2026, growing toward $18.95 billion by 2035. This robust growth is being propelled by lactose intolerance among consumers, health-focused consumption and product innovation.
Ingredient Tech: Prebiotics/Probiotics/Postbiotics
Awareness around the role that gut microbiota plays in regulating the two-way communication between the brain and the digestive system as a way of maintaining health continues to grow. We take in an in-depth look at prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics.
Outlook Report: Flavors
What’s the next flavor trend ready to change the dairy industry? We invite three experts to learn their predictions, plus much more.
Outlook Report: Women in Dairy (Part 2)
For the fourth consecutive year, Dairy Foods is proud to highlight and celebrate 10 fascinating women who share how they overcame adversity when a project started out badly, ways their company/brands are adapting to shifting consumer trends and economic pressures, lessons they learned and more. Check out Part 2 of our two-month feature.
FEATURES
DAIRY FOODS EXTRA
With PROOF Hard Ice Cream currently expanding at a blazing pace, corporate executives acknowledge they will soon outgrow its 4,000-square-foot South Carolina plant.
EXPORTER OF THE YEAR
South Carolina is perhaps where the next great dairy segment has been born: alcohol-infused ice cream. At the forefront of the alcohol-infused ice cream movement is PROOF Hard Ice Cream, led by Jennifer Randall, co-founder and CEO, and Dirk Brown, co-founder and chairman, who founded the start-up in 2014.
FEATURES
INGREDIENTS/R&D
Health and Wellness
Cream cheese is becoming a powerful vehicle for global flavor fusion, moving far beyond its traditional Western applications, and evolving into a canvas for regional tastes and storytelling, states Mary Wilcox.
Cheese Doctor
Cheese yield — the amount of product that you obtain from your starting milk — is vitally important for plants to understand and optimize. Even small differences in cheese yield result in a significant impact on plant revenue. Additionally, with the prevalent use of concentrated milk, monitoring plant efficiency is more important than ever, says Dr. John Lucey.
Tharp & Young
Ice cream always seems to draw entrepreneurs of all types from all points of view with food and non-food experience. The good news? There always seems to be room for new ideas, new business models, novel approaches to formulation, new products, new flavors, and more. The not-so-good news? Many entrepreneurs are “newbies” to the business (or new to general business) and may have not considered how ice cream is fundamentally different than any other food product, state Steve Young and Bill Sipple.
Ingredient Showcase
We offer the latest solutions in colors.
OPERATIONS
Processing Tech: Cybersecurity
The global average cost of a data breach was $4.88 million in 2024, according to IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025.” This amount can be crippling for any business, including dairy processors.
Equipment Showcase
Dairy Foods highlights fillers and cappers.
DEPARTMENTS
Eat. Drink. Dairy.
Borden Cheese unpacks craveworthy cheese dips; Organic Valley debuts new line of ultra-filtered milk; and Protein Pints expands flavor offerings to nine.
Market Trends
Although cheese sales growth may not be considered “gangbusters,” the category continues to plug away and see year-over-year (YoY) gains. The overall natural cheese category exhibited both dollar and unit sales YoY growth of 2% for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 25 to $21 billion and 5.2 billion, respectively, according to Chicago-based research firm Circana.
"Let’s Talk Dairy" Podcast
Smearcase founders Drew DiSpirito and Joe Rotondo join Dairy Foods for Episode 63 of the “Let’s Talk Dairy” podcast, where they discuss Smearcase and frozen cottage cheese.
