Dairy Rules in 2015!

(Homemade all-butter shortbread….from my kitchen to yours...baked while blogging, and enjoying all the broken ones with a cold glass of 2% milk!)

From butter to yogurt, and all the amazing dairy foods in between, including cheese, cultured and milk, yes milk, 2015 may be a banner year for dairy foods sales…if you innovate and market well.

Dairy foods are being embraced by today’s consumers, in particular, Millennials. Dairy foods are recognized as inherently nutritious, clean label and naturally functional. Processors who keep formulated dairy foods simple and as close to resembling milk as possible, will find success in 2015 and for many years to come.

The past two weeks I’ve blogged about the importance of pasteurization. Keep doing it! An Australian subscriber sent me this news clipping on how raw milk processors are evading regulations by selling raw milk as “Bath Milk,” a cosmetic. Merchandised in refrigerators next to drinks, consumers are purchasing bath milk, drinking it and getting ill. Scary stuff! See the news item HERE.

In case you missed the power of pasteurization blog, you can read it HERE.

Dairy provides consumers permission to indulge
When discussing how dairy is enjoying a renaissance, New Nutrition Business recently reinforced a phrase I coined a few year back: permission to indulge. The author wrote, “Dairy’s image is getting a boost as science both refutes negatives around dairy fats and uncovers more about the positive effects of dairy consumption…U.S. butter sales have overtaken table spreads as people get ‘permission to indulge’ in more traditional dairy products.”

As I have stated numerous times this past year, milk’s positive nutrition credentials are driving sales of all types of dairy foods. And guess what? It’s not just the protein but also the fat, and not just the dairy fat in butter. It’s the milkfat in cheese, ice cream, cultured, whole milk yogurt and milk. The latest sales data from IRI Custom DMI Market Advantage Database shows that whole milk continues to display positive sales growth nationally (year-to-date, ending Nov. 2, 2014). See graph. 

Source: IRI Custom DMI Market Advantage Database, courtesy Midwest Dairy Association


This presents an opportunity to marry milk and cream with coffee, flavors, tea and beneficial ingredients and market the drink as a “made with real dairy” beverage.

A good example is a product featured this past October. From Ito En North America, Extra Rich Jay Street Coffee is creamier than the original fresh-brewed flavors, giving consumers the option to enjoy a rich and more robust coffee experience.

More recently, Upstate Farms rolled out Custard Shakes. This dairy beverage line comes in two decadent flavors: Chocolate and Vanilla.

(The shortbread are done. I’ve moved onto kolacky, also made with real butter, and better than any Polish bakery!)



Before I sign off for this year—the next Friday blog won’t be until January 9, 2015—please help me recognize the people and companies that keep your Daily Doses of Dairy coming.

For starters…thank YOU! It’s been another amazing year building BerryOnDairy.com and the Daily Dose of Dairy. Thanks to all loyal subscribers and a warm welcome to the newer ones! You are part of a rapidly growing (nearly 6,500 subscribers) global community of professionals involved in the development, production, distribution, marketing and merchandising of dairy products and related beverages.

BerryOnDairy.com and the Daily Dose of Dairy wants to help you sell more--and better--dairy foods. I welcome all comments—positive and constructive—nothing too harsh, I have two teenage boys who do a fine job of telling me everything I’m doing wrong. Feel free to send me an email HERE anytime. It was such feedback that led to the development of the Co-Packers/Product Development Assistance tab that you can access HERE.

This tab debuted in August at the same time I blogged about the benefits in using a co-packer. To read the blog, please link HERE. If you contact any of these companies, please be sure to tell them they were found on my website.

A special thanks goes to the many advertisers and blog sponsors that make BerryOnDairy and the Daily Dose of Dairy possible. Please make sure you thank these businesses. Please send an email to your sales rep and say “Happy Holidays! Thanks for supporting BerryOnDairy and the Daily Dose of Dairy.” To learn more about any of them, you can link to their websites by clicking on the company name.

Thanks goes to:

• Arboris/Protanica  
• Anuga 
• Chr. Hansen  
• Davisco   
• DDW   
• Double H Plastics
• Ingredia  
• Ingredion   
• The International Dairy Foods Association  
• Kemps  
• MilkPEP  
• Pecan Deluxe  
• S&D Coffee and Tea    
• SEDA  
• Sensient Colors
• Sensory Effects 
• Sensus  
• Synergy
• Tate & Lyle 
• Tree Top
• Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Have a Merry Berry Dairy Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With warm wishes, and a glass of cookies and milk,
Donna Berry (on Dairy)