Is dairy the next to max?

 

At the National Restaurant Association Show, held May 16 to 19 in Chicago, Rachel Royster, director of strategic planning and innovation at Connections, told a room full of food professionals listening to her presentation on the impact of GLP-1 users in foodservice that she believes dairy will be the next to get maxxed. Protein is there. Fiber is moving up. And anything dairy might very well be next.

“GLP-1 users want quality products that taste good,” said Royster. “Dairy is delivering on all fronts. Dairy foods are protein powerhouses. The calcium content provides a bone density shield. And, fermented dairy delivers probiotics that restore gut balance and produce butyrate, a compound that boosts natural GLP-1 secretion.” 

To read more on this topic, link HERE to a Food Business News article I wrote on dairy’s fast-moving pace up the maxxing ladder. 

Royster is spot on. Dairy delivers on everything today’s consumers are looking for, not just GLP-1 users, but all consumers. Young consumers, in particular, are really into dairy! 

Dairy is cool again. Dairy is indulgent, authentic and functional all at the same time. And consumers trust dairy.

Consumers continue to maintain high levels of trust in dairy foods and the dairy industry, according to the latest Consumer Perceptions Tracker from Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) The tracker, now in its third year, shows the percentage of consumers giving dairy its top-two trust ratings (on a seven-point scale) rose to 36% in 2025, one tick up from the previous year.

“It doesn’t take a lot to figure out what the implications are for this industry. It means things like the increase in cottage cheese consumption we’ve seen in recent years,” according to Alan Bjerga, executive vice president of communications and industry relations at the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) in an interview with RFD News. “The rising consumption of whole milk, and the turn away from plant-based beverages we’ve seen over the last five years. This is something that’s taking on roots, and you really can see it generationally.”

It’s being fueled by younger consumers. Yep, it is true. The cohort that has the most trust in dairy is teenagers, with 47% rating dairy a 6 or a 7 on the 7-point scale. Their trust in dairy is growing thanks to our concerted efforts. We, collectively, have been influencers promoting dairy before the term influencer had ever been coined. 

And guess what young people love almost as much as cottage cheese? It’s cheesecake. I wrote about this trend a few weeks ago and want to bring it up again because I believe it has HUGE potential to keep the party going in the dairy aisle. 

Source: Dairy Management Inc. and National Milk Producers Federation

The flavor that is going rampant around the world is “cheesecake.” It has the potential to be the next Dubai chocolate, and dairy foods formulators are well poised to be forerunners in the trend, because guess what real, authentic, clean-label, simple cheesecake is made with what? Yep, it’s dairy, typically cream cheese, but the crust usually contains butter, and milk and cream are characterizing flavors, too. The multi-texture dessert complements the sensory cravings consumers now want based on their experience with Dubai chocolate.

If you have not heard of the viral “two-ingredient cheesecake” trend. Please do a search for it. It’s basically all about sticking cookies—usually Biscoff—into a cup of Greek yogurt. Letting it sit for a while so the cookies soften, and there you have it: two-ingredient cheesecake. (OK, we all know it’s a lot more than two ingredients, but for sake of social media, let’s let it go.)

Want to read more about the cheesecake flavor trend? Link HERE.

Source: Dairy Management Inc. and National Milk Producers Federation

The trend is not limited to the dessert or yogurt categories. Kung Fu Tea, America’s largest bubble tea brand, has shown us repeatedly that cheesecake can be a flavor in dairy-based beverages, namely milky drinks. 
 

The company recently partnered with the iconic Care Bears, owned by Cloudco Entertainment, for a limited-edition collaboration that transported customers—who are mainly young adults--back to the beloved Y2K era, when they were just littles. It’s all about nostalgia. 
 

The four Care Bears-inspired drinks were:

• Taro Tantrum Slush: buttery taro and toasty coconut twirled into ribbons of velvety cheesecake milk and sprinkles of graham crackers.
• Cheery Rosehip Slush: rosehip slush swirled with velvety cheesecake milk and sprinkles of graham crackers. 
• Mango Clouds Milk Tea: sweet mango and spiced Thai tea intertwined with velvety cheesecake milk cap and sprinkles of graham crackers.
• Matcha Luck Milk Tea: bold matcha and light, yet sweet honeydew, embraced with fluffy cheesecake milk cap and sprinkles of graham crackers.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to use dairy to deliver on authenticity, function and indulgence.