The Future of Dairy Includes Hybrid, but please don't call it hybrid.

 

Once upon a time there was a product called ice milk, a lower-fat, lower-calorie form of ice cream. The name itself was suggestive of an inferior product, as it was frozen milk, not frozen cream. Before the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) was signed into law on Nov. 8, 1990, any product labeled ice cream had to contain at least 10% butterfat, among other requirements. The product called ice milk had less butterfat, hence the name. The NLEA allowed ice milk to be called ice cream, as long as it included a legally defined reference to the butterfat content, such as nonfat, fat-free and low-fat.

Along with those labeling changes, there came significant improvements in ingredient and manufacturing technology. Think slow churn. 

That’s brings me to hybrid, as it relates to food. It’s not an appealing term. In fact, one of the online definitions reads: the offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a mule (a hybrid of a donkey and a horse). 

The fact is that the growing global population needs to rely on more nutrients from plants in order to thrive. Another fact is that beyond beverage, most of the plant-based dairy alternatives in the marketplace did not satisfy the sensory expectations, nutritional needs and budget of the flexitarian trying to mix things up in their diet for their wellbeing and the health of the planet. Enter the hybrid concept. But, it needs a better name.

According to a hot-off-the-presses report from Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the global Hybrid Dairy Products Market is projected to be about a $22 million business in 10 years. The research firm has a broad definition for hybrid dairy and it includes everything from toddler pouches that combine yogurt and vegetables to spoonable desserts made with cows milk and chia seeds. Blending proteins in nutritional foods to maximize the protein content is a huge opportunity.  

In the U.S., hybrid protein products currently can be found in the nutritional and meal replacement beverage space. Any suggestion to the hybrid formulation is typically limited to ingredient legend.  

Because dairy foods remain one of the most highly regulated food categories in terms of product names and descriptors in the U.S. and elsewhere, hybrid concepts of cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc., would not be able to be called by such legally defined names. They need their own identity, and please, hybrid is not going to cut it. But there’s potential in this space, according to Fact.MR research.  

 “By creatively fusing traditional dairy with cutting-edge plant-based ingredients, hybrid dairy products are slowly but surely changing consumer preferences and the structure of contemporary diets. Hybrid choices provide the best of both components—delicious flavors combined with greater health benefits—as health-conscious people seek out nutritional diversity,” according to the report.   

If your product development team is not already exploring this space, it’s time to do so. But, please don’t call it hybrid.