JANUARY 2025 vol. 126 no. 1
IN THIS ISSUE
Dairy Foods Extra
All eyes will be on Green Bay, Wis., in early March when the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest returns. Serving as the largest technical dairy products competition in the nation, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) has hosted the event biennially since 1981.
Inside the pLant
A great boon for Animal Farm Creamery’s business is that restaurants owners and chefs alike like to speak to one another about successful products they use in the kitchen. Couple that with consumers researching the European-style butter that was described during Season 3, Episode 3 of Hulu TV’s “The Bear,” and Animal Farm Creamery is seeing huge demand for its products.
PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES
With increasing scrutiny focused on food safety and regulatory standards, as well as wavering consumer trust in food products, dairy processors should examine their established food safety practices and systems to ensure they are up to par.
INGREDIENT TECHNOLOGIES
Hydrocolloids such as gums, emulsifiers and stabilizers — powerful workhorse ingredients — are go-to ingredients within dairy and non-dairy products as they enhance product quality, extend shelf life and improve a product’s mouthfeel and texture.
OUTLOOK REPORT
An estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet each year, and the diet industry in the United States is worth nearly $73 billion, according to Boston Medical Center. Dairy can be a big part of this equation.
PROCESSOR PROFILE
Dairy Foods visited the family who makes the butter that is the talk of many restaurants throughout the United States: Animal Farm Creamery.
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
DEPARTMENTS
Eat. Drink. Dairy.
Lifeway Foods unveils probiotic smoothie with collagen; Dippin’ Dots expands brand with first frozen grocery product; Whipnotic reaches new heights.
Market Trends
We start off 2025 with plenty of good news in the frozen dessert section: ice cream sales are heating up. Overall, the ice cream/sherbet category’s sales advanced 3% year over year (YoY) to $8.65 billion for the 52-week period ending Nov. 3, while unit sales picked up 1% to 1.85 billion, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana.
"Let’s Talk Dairy" Podcast
Dr. Carmen Licon, director at Cal Poly’s Dairy Products Technology Center, joins Dairy Foods for Episode 48 of the “Let’s Talk Dairy" podcast.
OPERATIONS
Equipment Showcase
We showcase several lab-testing kits, which are incredibly important for dairy processors.
INGREDIENTS/R&D
Health & Wellness
As Mary Wilcox explains, dairy plays a huge role when it comes to aging.
Cheese Doctor
John Lucey provides an update on H5N1 and what we may see in the future.
Dairy Detective
The fluid milk industry in modern times struggles to balance its heritage protection with evolving to meet changing consumer demands. With shifting dietary preferences, rapid technology development, and emerging sustainability challenges, the future of milk will be both an opportunity and a challenge, suggests Sonali Raghunath.
Ingredient Showcase
Dairy Foods provides the latest offerings in flavors, botanicals and masking agents.
American Dairy Products Institute — SEE AD
Extrutech Plastics Inc. — SEE AD
Fortress Techology — SEE AD
Harco Enterprises LTD. — SEE AD
Hydro Thermal — SEE AD
International Dairy Foods Association — SEE AD
Koss Industrial Inc. — SEE AD
Lubriplate — SEE AD
Nercon Conveyor Systems — SEE AD
Pactiv Evergreen — SEE AD
Rocket Enterprises — SEE AD
Van der Graaf — SEE AD
Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association — SEE AD
