Dairy is Not a Trend. It’s the Future of Nutrition and Innovation.

 

Trends come and go, while taste always reigns. Nutrition is increasingly being prioritized by today’s consumers and is fueling the future of food innovation. 

Health-conscious consumers are driving a staggering $638 billion in food and beverage spending, with $363 billion allocated to retail and $275 billion to foodservice, according to Circana’s Complete Food & Beverage research released this week. This data highlights a growing trend in the wellness movement, with one-third of all food and beverage spending now driven by consumers prioritizing physical, mental and social well-being. 

“Consumers are looking for wellness across every aspect of their lives, and food and beverages are playing a critical role in this transformation,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor at Circana. “Our Complete Food & Beverage research shows that while the retail sector is excelling at meeting these needs, there is significant opportunity for foodservice providers to innovate and offer wellness-centered dining experiences.”

Consumers are increasingly seeking fresh, nutrient-dense foods that promote physical health, according to the research. Retailers are responding by offering a variety of minimally processed products high in protein, fiber and natural ingredients. Think milk and all things dairy!

In contrast, wellness influences only 11% of foodservice meals, as dining out remains more focused on convenience and indulgence. This presents an amazing opportunity for dairy in the out-of-home channel.

Thirty-five percent of consumers view food as an important tool for managing stress and improving mood, driving increased interest in functional foods and beverages that support mental health, according to Circana. While retailers are capitalizing on this trend with expanded assortments of relaxation beverages and mood-enhancing snacks, both retail and foodservice are providing treat-based indulgences, such as bakery items, candy, and yes, ice cream, which are often go-to items for emotional well-being. 

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The rising trend of “eatertainment” is changing the way consumers experience dining, blending food with social interaction. This is particularly strong in foodservice, where chains are adapting to meet consumer demand for experiential dining. Retailers are also supporting social wellness by hosting community-driven events, helping consumers integrate physical health with social engagement.

It’s no wonder Milk Bar is expanding into my hometown. Read about this below.

As consumer demand for wellness grows, dairy foods formulators have the opportunity to innovate by expanding their offerings to better align with physical, mental and social well-being. Listen to the on-demand Circana webinar on this topic by linking HERE.

Packed with 13 essential nutrients that we all need to thrive and live healthy lives, along with being absolutely delicious, milk and products made with milk and milk ingredients, are part of the solution to addressing hunger and food insecurity. Listen to how dairy industry leaders are tapping into milk’s nutritional potential to address nutritional challenges. Link HERE to this week’s episode of The Dairy Download. 

Milk Bar Is Coming to Chicago

Milk Bar, the rule-breaking dessert company with New York City origins, is finally expanding to Chicago, my hometown and the location of many dairy- and food-centric associations, businesses and conferences. The Chicago location will be in the Fulton Market District at The Hoxton hotel. The shop will feature its full dessert menu along with Chicago-specific treats. Milk Bar was founded in 2008 and has more than a dozen locations in cities outside of New York, including Los Angeles, Boston and Washington D.C. 

“I am a Midwesterner by birth and Chicago has long been one of my favorite cities to visit. Food, culture, sports and art, the city is teeming with real people doing real things their way: creatively, honestly and inspiringly,” said Christina Tosi, Milk Bar founder and award-winning chef. “We promise to show up with passion, enthusiasm and care, serving delicious cookies, cake, pie and ice cream early in the morning until late at night. Chicago, we can’t wait to show up for you. We can’t wait to call you home.”

Tosi spoke a number of years ago at the International Foods Association’s Ice Cream Tech Conference. She believes in the power of dairy. Even her baked goods rely on real butter. 

This summer, Milk Bar teamed up with Tropicana to make a limited-time-offering. The soft-serve, Orange Squeeze is a nostalgic cream-meets-citrus flavor. A cup sold for $7 and a pint for $13.

“I grew up racing to the ice cream truck to score my favorite creamy, orange and vanilla flavored bar,” said Tosi. “Orange Squeeze is our take on that childhood classic, transporting you back, Milk Bar style, to sweet summer memories of that bright, fresh-tasting combo.”

The pandemic required that Tosi pivot her café business into retail pints. She started with four of the café’s most popular ice creams flavors. Soon, three others followed as the brand gained national distribution. 

Like novelty cups, pints present a package size that readily accommodates lots of inclusions along with unique textures, as compared to larger multi-serve containers that may get too messy when overwhelmed with extras that impact the frozen state.   

The four original pints included Birthday Cake, a birthday cake-flavored ice cream with birthday cake crumbs and ribbons of birthday frosting. The Cereal Milk ice cream base tastes like the bottom of the cereal bowl with some extras in the form of a salty-sweet cornflake crunch. Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow is an ode to the Milk Bar’s bestselling cookie. It combines cornflake crunch, chocolate chunks and gooey marshmallow swirls throughout a cookie dough ice cream. Milk Bar Pie is vanilla ice cream with swirls of a gooey butter filling and toasted oat crumble.

The three additional flavors are Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Crush (peanut butter chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cookie crumbs and fudgy chocolate cookie batter); Chocolate Mint Cookies N’ Cream (chocolate mint ice cream, chocolate cookie batter, cookies n’ cream crunch and creamy mint swirl) and Vanilla Sugar Cookie (vanilla cookie swirled into an ultra-creamy pint of vanilla-flavored ice cream with sugar cookies and a frosting swirl).

“I have dreamed about bringing Milk Bar to the freezer section--the holy grail of the supermarket in my opinion--for nearly a decade. I knew coming in now, we’d need to do more than bend pieces of our finished treats into an ice cream pint. So we toiled and tinkered, taking our favorite flavor profiles and imagining them through ice cream bases, swirls, gobs, fudges, frostings, crumbs and crunches to create our proudest on-shelf creation yet,” said Tosi, when the line debuted in June 2021. “Our ice creams are meant for the unapologetically indulgent moments and mean serious business, no two are alike. Whether we already have a place in your heart or you’re looking for even more joy and spirit in your ice cream bowl, we got you!”

Idaho Milk Products is Becoming an Ice Cream Co-Packer

To help more ice cream creators turn their innovations into reality, Idaho Milk Products, today’s blog sponsor (thank you!), is constructing a $200 million dual ice cream and powder blending facility at its Jerome, Idaho, campus. The company’s entry into the ice cream business comes with a focus on premium indulgent and functional recipes in both bulk and novelty formats, while blending capabilities will support the ice cream business and create capabilities to provide custom formulations to both existing and new customers.

“Construction of the custom-designed 183,000-square-foot plant will commence within the next two months and be substantially complete by early 2026 with full commercial production by May 2026,” said John Murphy, vice president of operations at Idaho Milk Products. 

Commenting further on the company’s commercial strategy, Kevin Quinn, vice president of sales and marketing, said, “We have the freshest, best-quality cream in the market, and the project was initially born out of the conviction to add incremental value to a portion of that product stream. The inclusion of a blending facility in the new plant creates new ways to service our customers and add to the benefits of our vertically integrated model.”

The team at Idaho Milk Products believes that this project builds on the company’s purpose, is a natural extension of its existing model and has the potential to create one of the world’s most sustainable ice cream businesses. A groundbreaking event will take place October 11, 2024.

“We will be able to produce a variety of novelty products, including sandwiches and stick bars and have the capability of producing various carton sizes from less than pint to half a gallon,” said Louis Armstrong, ice cream business manager. “We intend to co-manufacture various ice cream products in partnership with brands’ or retailers’ needs. Our plant, at scale, will have the capacity to produce roughly 14 million gallons of ice cream mix per year into various frozen formats.”

Daragh Maccabee, CEO of Idaho Milk Products, said, “Our commitment to our core business remains. We work hard every day to maintain our position as a global leader in milk protein concentrates (MPC) and milk protein isolates (MPI). At the same time, we constantly seek out new ways to add value to our milk, always doing so in a way that is sustainable for the longer term. Our vision for this plant is to build on the strength of our existing business, leverage our Milk Innovation Center, the strength of our R&D team and the unique synergies that this business will create.”

The Many Reasons to Use a Co-Packer

The dairy foods industry is overflowing with entrepreneurs, which is a beautiful thing. Innovative product development and healthy competition keeps the dairy case exciting and consumers interested in all things dairy. 

Early in the process of innovation, startups must decide whether they want to invest in processing, packaging and warehousing (to have control over the operation as well as secure any proprietary technology) or to partner with a contract manufacturer, aka a co-packer. 

More times than not, entrepreneurs and smaller manufacturers choose to partner with an expert to manufacture their products. There are many reasons why this is the smarter option. 

The most obvious reason is that this option reduces capital investment and assists with cash flow, freeing up dollars for marketing efforts to build brand awareness. Co-packers are also experts at what they do. This frees up man power and brain time, reducing energy spent on learning the process and troubleshooting common production issues. 

Before you begin interviewing potential co-packer partners, it is paramount that you identify those criteria that are non-negotiable and those where there’s flexibility. Keep in mind, co-packers vary in capabilities. Decide if you want to source ingredients and packaging, or if you prefer the co-packer do this for possible bulk pricing benefits. 

Speaking of pricing, determine your cost structure. Discuss potential hidden expenses.

Set quality standards. Identify product and package specifications, including shelf life requirements, as well as certifications such as allergen-free lines, kosher, organic, etc.

Safety, quality and record keeping are not negotiable in this day and age. Do your homework. Evaluate the co-packer’s safety and sanitation procedures. Do they have a HACCP plan? Are they compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act? Is the manufacturing facility regularly audited by an accredited firm? Is the co-packer prepared to properly handle a recall?

Ask for referrals. Find out how reliable the co-packer is for scheduling production. How far in advance do you need to confirm schedules?  

Then there’s that gut feel we all have when doing business. Do you feel that the co-packer will work with you when issues arise? Troubleshoot with you? Communicate in a timely manner? In general, the more transparent a co-packer is willing to be, the more trustworthy the partnership will be. This is even more important when proximity is an issue. 

Remember, if you are prepared and do your homework, it will be easier to identify the best co-packer for your innovation. Your chance of success increases. 

Dairy is not a trend. It’s the future of nutrition and innovation.