NACS 2025: The Next Decade is all about Gen X

It appears that the “forgotten generation,” those of us born between 1965 and 1980, are finally getting the recognition we deserve in the world of consumer packaged goods marketing. It’s about time. 

There are 1.4 billion Gen Xers navigating the globe today, according to Wolfgang Fengler, chief executive officer of World Data Lab, who spoke alongside Marta Cyhan-Bowles, chief communications officer and head of global marketing at NielsenIQ, at NACS 2025, the c-store conference and expo that took place this week in my amazing home city of Chicago. (We are a resilient city and taking care of ours during these insane times.) 

“They’ve got trillions and you’ve got blind spots,” said Fengler, when describing Gen Xers. “In 2025 alone, Gen X will drive $15.2 trillion in global spend.”

Most Gen Xers are or getting close to being empty nesters. Yet, they are the sandwich generation, as they still influence the purchases their parents and their adult kids make. 

“Gen X’s unique identity is as the CFO of three generations,” said Cyhan-Bowles. “Gen Xers spend on elder and dependent care, and education, have clearly positioned them as ‘caretaker consumers.’”

Most Gen Xers are at the peak of their careers and energized. They’ve made it this far and refuse to be forgotten anymore. Gen X wants to have fun!

“They straddled both analog and digital domains,” said Cyhan-Bowles. 

And dang, we are resilient and flexible when it comes to navigating how we spend our money. For the record, I’m Gen X, and proud of it. We grew up independent, many of us as latchkey kids with both parents working. We witnessed the rise of MTV, grunge culture and personal computing. We are just as comfortable inserting a floppy disc into a computer as we are a memory stick, and now just saving to the cloud. 

Gen X is brand loyal, especially when it comes to the few brands that have marketed to them. If Jennifer Aniston endorsed it, I’m buying it. 

Eleven percent of Gen X says, “I am able to spend freely,” while 44% say “I love comfortably and am able to buy things just because I want them.” These are your customers! This is the majority of Gen X. 

“This is the Gen X decade,” said Fengler. “While there are more Millennials in this world, they have much less money to spend. Gen X is the number-one spender and growing. By 2033, their global spending power will reach $20 trillion, and approximately $7 trillion in the U.S. alone. 

“[If you are not marketing to them], you’ve not missed the train, just the opportunity,” said Fengler. 

He explained that currently the countries with the largest Gen X populations are in Europe and Asia. In the next year or two, it will be the U.S. 

“These are your most overlooked and most valuable customers,” Fengler said. 

Cyhan-Bowles added, “And they don’t need Costco anymore.”

They want convenience and portion control. She said that Gen X is less about clean-label foods—we were the first generation to grow up with Tab and other diet sodas—and more focused on calories and health. 

This likely explains why the plethora of dairy-based, high-protein beverages that have recently debuted in the market use artificial sweeteners to better deliver on taste, mouthfeel and price, as compared to like products that only use natural sweeteners. 

“This presents a unique opportunity for convenience store retailers and brands that can successfully capture Gen X, and their high degree of brand loyalty,” said Cyhan-Bowles “The intersection of ease of use, convenience and function positions c-stores (globally) to win with Gen X. They’re willing to pay a premium for products that assist or complement their stretched realities.

“Within c-stores, Gen X is the highest-penetration generation across the three leading c-store categories (which are non-alcoholic beverages, salty snacks and candy/gum/mints,” she said. She recommends that brands consider new formats and claims for caregiving, longevity and convenience.

Congrats to all the many brands who exhibited at NACS 2025. Dairy rocked the expo. If you are not marketing to Gen X, now’s the time to consider. And when considering, keep portion control and nutrient density top of mind. 

That’s because, “GLP-1 is not a killer of convenience. In fact, I would argue that convenience is a big friend to GLP-1 consumers,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor of consumer goods and foodservice insights at Circana. “When you look at the categories that have gained positive shifts in convenience among these customers, it screams that the portion-control convenience offers by having single-serve sizes works.” 

Dairy Innovation Ideas from Europe

 Anuga, the biennial global food exposition that took place this week in Cologne, Germany, , showcased numerous innovations that will influence what fills supermarket shelves in 2026. I scoured the halls of the expo and also visited a number of German retailers to see what’s already out there in order to bring back dairy innovation ideas to inspire the global dairy industry. Enjoy! 

For starters, Euromonitor International recently identified the key trends driving innovation in dairy around the world. Kefir, and similar fermented milk products for gut health, are leading the way, especially when fiber, botanicals and/or nootropics are included. 

Check out this new brand from Arla Foods UK. The Cultura range is all about gut health. The mildly flavored fermented dairy drinks and cup yogurts are lactose free, and loaded with probiotics, vitamins and fiber. The products were designed to deliver “accessible, science-backed nutrition” to British consumers. 

The debut includes six products: three 500-milliliter gut-health milk drinks in Original, Raspberry and Blueberry flavors, and three 450-grams yogurts in Original, Strawberry and Blueberry flavors. The drinks are slightly effervescent, while the yogurts provide a smooth, creamy texture.

Labels indicate the drinks are 89% milk and contain soluble corn fiber and lactase. Key probiotics—all supplied by today’s blog sponsor, Novonesis—include Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5, BB-12 Bifidobacteria and F-19 Lactobacillus casei. The benefits of consuming these cultures are backed by many clinical studies from the past few decades. 

“Our ambition is to become the most trusted, accessible gut-health brand on shelf and to do that we’re launching a major marketing campaign from September 2025 and throughout 2026,” said Stuart Ibberson, Arla brand director. “We want to simplify complex science so consumers can feel confident about ‘giving their gut more’ every day.” 

After the trend in such fermented dairy drinks, Euromonitor cites premium refrigerated creamers that deliver barista-style experiences and trendy flavors as a booming business. Fresh cheeses—everything from cottage-style to feta to grillable formats—are also doing well because of their high-protein content and simple, clean labels.

Innovation in dairy snacks also shows no signs of slowing down. Many of these snacks are targeting specific demographics. 

ERU, for example, has a new cheese spread for children. It contains 40% less fat and 53% less sodium than ordinary cheese spreads. ERU Kids is rich in calcium, mild in flavor and suitable for children over the age of 6 months. 

Bakoma, a dairy processor in Poland, is adding a shake to its MEN Skyr line, which includes cup yogurts and refrigerated snack bars. The brand is all about building and maintaining muscle mass. It is a mixture of yogurt and fruit with live bacteria cultures that are beneficial for the digestive system. The brand emphasizes the branched-chain amino acid content, flagging it on front labels. 

The company also has new Maxi Meal, which is described as a milk-based liquid meal. Each 500-gram bottle provides 34 grams of protein along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. All of this is communicated in detail on the bottle, a trend that is gaining momentum in beverages intended for every day meal replacements. 

Kerry Dairy Consumer Foods, which launched an oat and dairy hybrid product range last year under the Smug brand, is pivoting. The hybrid line has been cancelled, but the brand will live on in a new range of dairy snacks that will launch in January. The products are all about playful branding with a focus on nutritional benefits. 

Smug is redefining itself as an “adult-snacking dairy brand,” with an emphasis on dairy in the logo. It will include two varieties of Cheese & Crunch, which are cheese cubes with either sea salt rosemary crackers or barbecue corn bites. There’s also Quarkies, bite-sized refrigerated quark bites in raspberry and vanilla flavors.

Recognizing that the humanization of pet foods shows no signs of slowing, dairy processors are getting more creative with their offerings. Dogs have had their own ice cream for some time. Now cats have fresh milk, even value-added offerings, such as this new one with omega-3 fatty acids.  

Ready-to-drink protein coffees have become quite prevalent throughout Europe. The latest dairy to join the trend is Emmi. 

And while the effervescent, shelf-stable canned milk beverage known as Milkis first made its debut in South Korea in 1989 by Lotte, the company has plans for rapid expansion around the world. In the U.S., it complements the dirty soda trend and presents an interesting opportunity for beverage manufacturers. 

The same is true of Aryan, a yogurt drink that has been around forever in the Balkans, Turkey and Iran. The traditional beverage is often described as salty sour, and often served with a sprig of mint. A number of Anuga exhibitors are now offering the beverage in convenient single-serve packages and in flavors, such as melon and mixed berry. 

Hope you are inspired! Cheers!

Anuga 2025: Explore Refrigerated, Frozen and Shelf-Stable Dairy Dessert Innovations

It’s the eve of Anuga 2025, the biennial food and beverage exposition that takes place in Cologne, Germany. This year there will be more than 8,000 exhibitors from 110 countries.

Prior to the expo, 608 companies from 53 countries took part in the Anuga taste Innovation competition, the central showcase for the most important new products. It serves as a trend barometer and source of inspiration for global food businesses. 

I was one of the judges and had the opportunity to explore more than 1,900 innovation submissions. We selected 62 outstanding products for their originality, sustainability, market potential and creative implementation. Ten were distinguished as being especially pioneering. 

Two of the 10 are dairy foods. You got a peek at one of them a few weeks ago when I wrote about the trend in formulating with collagen. If you missed that blog, you can read it HERE. 

The product is Collagen Yoghurt from YÖMilch/DBG Deutsches Biogeschäft GmbH of Germany. The other top-10 winner is from Panfruit Ukraine. The product is shelf-stable, crunchy Freeze-Dried Ice Cream. The winning flavor is Blueberry Blackberry. The product line also comes in traditional ice cream flavors of Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla.  

Two additional dairy foods made it into the 62 outstanding innovations. One of them—another shelf-stable product—is Star Candies Freeze-Dried Vanilla Ice Cream with Protein. This high-protein snack breaks the boundaries between indulgence and functionality by combining real dairy-based ice cream with advanced freeze-drying technology and whey protein enrichment. The other outstanding dairy innovation is frozen Kefir Ice Cream with Berries and Chia Seeds. 

Here are some other innovative dairy foods that were part of the competition. 

Bubble Gum Mochi is a throwback treat with a modern twist. The flavor pops with childhood nostalgia. It’s blue ice cream wrapped in chewy pink and white double dough.

Spectaculoos Mochi features a rich, caramelized cookie flavor in the brown ice cream wrapped in a soft dough of the same shade.

Vilkyškių pieninė / VILVI Group of Lithuania has limited-edition refrigerated Murr Quark Snack Bars made with Japanese green tea matcha. There’s original Matcha, as well as Matcha Strawberry. 

Speaking to gut health, a trend discussed in last week’s blog, which you can read HERE, are a number of elevated frozen yogurt products. Chillato Premium Frozen Dessert from Greece is made with real Greek yogurt and marbled with real fruit. Varieties are Strawberry & Raspberry, Mango & Passion Fruit, Forest Berries & Blackcurrant, and Caramel with Salted Caramel Sauce. 

Ice Cream Bowls from Helados Estiu SA of Spain are real coconut shells filled with creamy açaí mango, mango coconut or açaí banana ice cream. They are designed for health-minded foodies who crave a refreshing, better-for-you treat after a workout. They also may serve as breakfast or a guilt-free treat any time of day. 

South Korea’s Lotte Wellfood Company has Joee Greek Yogurt Frozen Dessert Bars. One bar contains more than 50 million CFU of live probiotics. The bars are coated with Greek yogurt to capture the true fermented dairy flavor.

Chilled Ice Cream Desserts from Álvarez Camacho SL of Spain are handcrafted desserts that combine creamy ice cream with delicious cake pieces. What makes them unique is they are intended to be consumed at refrigerated temperature. They have a three-month frozen shelf life and a 20 day refrigerated shelf life. Varieties are Triple Chocolate, Lemon Meringue Pie, Cheesecake and the Spanish specialty: Tocino del Cielo.

France’s Tiliz has Cookie Balls. Sold in bite-sized pieces in cups, the frozen product features artisanal ice cream wrapped with chocolate chip cookie dough. Varieties are Caramel, Chocolate and Vanilla. 

The Dubai Chocolate Gelato Bomb has three luscious layers of taste: chocolate and pistachio gelato with a core of liquid pistachio all wrapped in pistachio crumble and crunchy kataifi. The product comes from Italy’s Emilia Foods. Other flavors in its Gelato Bomb Collection are Cheesecake, Chocolate, Lemon and Pistachio. They are sold in 2- and 6-pack boxes. 

From Lithuania’s Varenos Pienelis comes Dubai Style Pistachio Flavored Glazed Curd Cheese with Kadayıf Pastry Coating. This refrigerated bar features smooth pistachio-flavored curd cheese with a crispy glaze layered with kadayıf pastry, creating a unique contrast between softness and crunch. 

France’s Onoré has new Chocolate Dubai Glazed Mochi. This pistachio plant-based ice cream with kadaif has a hazelnut-flavored flowing center and is coated in a thin cocoa rice dough.

Gukapang from Lotte Wellfood is a “K-style” dessert inspired by traditional Korean street foods. The 100% plant-based frozen dessert sandwich features sweet red beans and chewy mochi inside of a rice cake wafer cookie. To preserve the chewy texture of the rice cake under freezing conditions, proprietary moisture-retention technology is applied, according to the company. 

Emilia Foods also has new Italian Gelato Macarons. These are French-style macarons filled with gelato. The crisp shell gives way to a burst of extra-creamy Italian gelato. The product is sold in boxes of 12 macarons, with two of six flavors. The varieties are: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Lemon, Pistachio, Raspberry and Sea Salt Caramel. 

And lastly, Lotte Wellfood now offers a 100% plant-based frozen dessert bar for pets and pet parents alike. 

Dairy Innovation: Stay Ahead of the Game and Get in the Gut Health Business

Gut health isn’t just a fad. It’s becoming a priority for a growing number (35% in 2024, up from 27% in 2020) of U.S. consumers who actively seek out foods and drinks that support it, according to the 2025 USA Trend Study from HealthFocus International, Des Plaines, Ill. The time is NOW for dairy processors to get on board. 

While beverage and cultured dairy all make sense for gut-friendly formulations, I predict frozen is where the action will be this time next year. It’s time for the Great American Frozen Yogurt Comeback. 

Health- and wellness-seeking consumers are driving demand for frozen dairy treats that offer more than just indulgence. While the action we are seeing now in the freezer is a focus on added protein, these products are poised to provide more value in terms of probiotics and prebiotic fibers. WE need to talk about them being good for the gut. 

“[Gut health] is not just about digestion. People are recognizing that gut health plays a much bigger role in overall well-being,” said Julie Johnson, president of HealthFocus. “More than 60% of consumers we surveyed believe it affects weight, physical health and energy levels, while nearly half also link it to mood and stress. This reflects a broader, more holistic view of health that has been growing in recent years.”

Fiber is the number-one ingredient that consumers (63% of those surveyed by HealthFocus) believe improves digestion/gut health. Next in line is probiotics (58%), followed by whole grains (49%), ginger (38%), prebiotics (37%), turmeric (35%), collagen (26%), postbiotics (21%) and beta glucan from oat or barley fiber (16%).  

VISIT DOUBLE H PLASTICS AT PACK EXPO THIS WEEK. BOOTH SL-18007 

TruJoy Frozen Greek Yogurt is building its business by marketing its frozen yogurt as being “made with simple, living and timeless ingredients that will fuel you to live your best life.”

The website reads: We take protein and probiotic rich Greek yogurt and blend it with cream, cane sugar and plant-based stabilizers to make our Frozen Greek Yogurt. We use only fruit and other natural flavors and extracts to create a treat that is truly nutritious and delicious.

The idea for TruJoy Yogurt was conceived when founder Charlie Gentry realized something was missing from the freezer aisle. A self-described health nut, Charlie wanted a natural frozen treat as wholesome and nutritious as the snacks that fueled everything from long days at work to ultramarathons. He started by making a list of clean ingredients he could use and outlined a nutrition profile. Then he started experimenting with recipes until he found something that worked. 150 batches later, TruJoy Yogurt was born.

TruJoy comes in nine flavors. They are: Blueberry Parfait, Chocolate, Classic Tart, Coffee, Lemon Velvet, Madagascar Vanilla Bean, Mint Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Strawberry. Each pint contains only 500 calories and is loaded with live and active probiotic cultures, as Greek yogurt is the first ingredient. 

Frozen yogurt never went away, but its selling points need to evolve from simply being a better-for-you frozen treat choice to being a gut-health food. Give consumers permission to indulge. 

It’s time for the Great American Frozen Yogurt Comeback.

Recent Dairy Launches to Fuel Your Innovation Fire

Hold onto your seats! Dairy is getting fun.

Last week I wrote about how we are all ambassadors for dairy and the time is now to speak up. That’s because “it” is out there. What’s “it?” 

“It” is the truth about dairy. That it is inherently nutritious. That pasteurization makes it safe and does not impact that inherent nutrition. That milk delivers 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and protein. And, that milk’s unique matrix also provides the body with bioactives responsible for critical steps in physiological functions. 

If you missed the September 12, 2025, blog, you can read it HERE.

Now is the time to talk about all of it. And make it more. It's all about dairy with benefits. 

Let’s explore some recent dairy launches and the opportunities they present. I hope I fuel your innovation fire.

StrongR is a yogurt drink with colostrum. Inspired Functional Brands provided Newtopia attendees a sneak peek at the new concept. 

At the heart of StrongR is nature’s first superfood: colostrum. With its unique combination of key vitamins, minerals and immuno-active proteins, colostrum helps nourish the gut’s microbiome while strengthening the immune system, according to the company. Made with whole milk and containing more than 10 billion probiotics, StrongR yogurt drinks come in Blueberry, Mango and Strawberry-Banana flavors. Each 7.6-ounce bottle provides 8 grams of high-quality, complete protein. 

 

Speaking of protein, dairy owns this space. And we need to be loud about owning it. 

Little Chute, Wis.-based Nurri, a brand that debuted this year with a line of shelf-stable canned protein milk shakes, is a case in point. The brand’s rapid growth is unprecedented in value-added fluid milk. 

The company starts with a base of ultra-filtered skim milk, to which lactase is added to intensify the inherent sweetness. To further reach the target sweetness level, the brand relies on a blend of three high-intensity sweeteners: acesulfame potassium, sucralose and monk fruit extract. That’s right. There’s artificial sweeteners in this protein shake, and consumers are drinking it up. That’s because each 11-ounce can contains 30 grams of high-quality, complete protein and a mere 1 gram of sugar. 

The brand made its debut at Costco stores nationwide in packs of 12 11-ounce slim cans. The first flavor to launch was Chocolate. Vanilla soon followed. Most recently, Strawberry hit the shelves. The Costco by me has been selling out on a regular basis. 

This week the company launched these three flavors, along with new Mocha, in Walmart stores nationwide. They are selling at Walmart as single cans for $2.97. 

“Our goal is to make Nurri more readily available to more people, and adding Walmart as a retail partner is a big step in accomplishing this,” said Adam Tollefson, Director of Marketing. “With this expansion and availability of single cans, even more shoppers will be able to try Nurri, while our loyal fans will enjoy greater accessibility and variety.”

The addition of single-can varieties plus new flavors signals Nurri’s trajectory, which is moving full steam ahead in innovation and scale. The new Mocha flavor delivers Nurri's signature benefits: 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar, 150 calories, and 100% recyclable aluminum packaging, plus it packs an added energy boost with 80 milligrams of caffeine.

Speaking of caffeine and protein. Value-added, ready-to-drink lattes are on fire. Value comes in the form of collagen. 

This is best exemplified by Healthee’s new ready-to-drink Protein Cold Brew Latte line. Each of the three varieties is made with micellular casein isolate and bioactive collagen peptides, with the type of collagen supported by clinical research demonstrating a specific benefit. There’s Bone (Sea Salt Caramel), Joint (Chocolate) and Skin, Hair & Nails (French Vanilla). Cans include a QR code for accessing the clinical studies supporting the specific collagen peptides.

An 8-ounce can of Healthee Protein Cold Brew Latte contains 70 calories and 15 grams of protein. The drinks have no added sugars and are sweetened with stevia. 

To read more about formulating with collagen, link HERE.

YOMilch in Germany recently introduced a yogurt with collagen hydrolysate. And Meiji is rolling out Meiji W Skin Care Yogurt to the Japanese marketplace. The yogurt is formulated with a proprietary blend of ingredients, including SC-2 lactic acid bacteria, collagen peptides and sphingomyelin. These components are reported to offer two benefits: protection against UV-induced skin irritation and maintenance of skin moisture levels. And, Korea Yakult’s gut health functional fermented milk product “Will” is entering the Taiwan market under the “hy” brand. The brand is also launching a new Low-Sugar Strawberry variety, which maintains the gut health patent probiotic HP7, while using a low-sugar formula that reduces sugar content by 45% compared to the original product. In addition, collagen has been added to meet the needs of Taiwanese women consumers who are focused on both health and beauty.

Protein-packed ice creams are experiencing a second life, after a crash and burn right before the pandemic. The science has improved, as has the available ingredients—namely allulose and monkfruit—available to formulators. 

With 30 grams of protein per pint and 85% less sugar than traditional ice cream, Protein Pints is redefining functional frozen treats without compromising on taste. Made with natural ingredients and no artificial sweeteners, each decadent, gluten-free pint delivers all nine essential amino acids, a smooth, creamy texture, and just 120 to 160 calories per serving. The product got a major plug this week during a tasting on the Today Show. You can view the clip HERE.

“We’ve been blown away by the response to Protein Pints since launching nationally earlier this year. Consumers have made our first five flavors a staple in their freezers, and the demand from both shoppers and retail partners made it clear. People are hungry for more,” said Paul Reiss, co-founder and CEO of Protein Pints. 

The company announced this week that it is adding Cookies & Cream and Coffee flavors to its original lineup of Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Chip, Chocolate, Mint Chip and Strawberry.

Like I said, dairy owns protein. It appears that there’s an opportunity to play in the better-for-you soda space. Move over poppi, Olipop, Bloom Pop and Pepsi Prebiotic Cola. Hello sparkling dairy protein drinks. 

The total better-for-you soda category in the U.S. is more than $1 billion and is up 70% year-over-year, with 20% growth from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, according to retail sales data from SPINS. The “2025 CPG Outlook: Industry Update & Trends Predictions” report from SPINS, which tracks innovation across the entire U.S. food and beverage landscape, identified three of the top-five categories for product innovation as being beverages. Sports and energy drinks claim the number-one spot, shelf-stable ready-to-drink coffees and teas come in third, and kombucha and other functional beverages finish fifth.

Genius Gourmet offers new Sparkling Clear Protein beverages containing whey protein isolate drink. The shelf-stable, lactose-free beverage comes in a 12-fluid-ounce slim can and contains 90 calories and 20 grams of protein. They are free of artificial colors and preservatives. Flavors are Blue Raspberry, Fruit Punch and Orange flavors. 

The there’s Dirty Soda. Dirty refers to the addition of extras, and creamer—dairy or non-dairy—is one of the primary extras. 

This is something that Laverne—of the late 70’s to early 80’s sitcom Laverne and Shirley—introduced to America. Her favorite beverage was mixing Pepsi with milk. At first it sounds odd, but it’s not much different than a root beer float: root beer with a scoop of melty ice cream. 

So now we have dirty soda, which started out as a “treat” type beverage void of caffeine and alcohol. It’s a trend that started in Utah in the Mormon community and has expanded across the country, much like how boba tea spread from Asian California communities to the rest of the country. 

Boba tea started in food service, but now there are ready-to-drink canned and bottled versions. That will likely be the future of dirty soda. At its simplest, dirty soda is about two-thirds soda water, mixed with flavored syrup and, in most cases, cream. Beverage formulators need to get busy. 

And lastly, I believe the time is finally right for Golden Milk, the ancient Indian beverage known as haldi doodh. It is non-caffeinated and has a bright gold beverage. The color is the result of adding yellow turmeric into white cows’ milk. Historically served warm, and often as a nighttime relaxing beverage, modern versions of golden milk include iced lattes and smoothies, with or without other spices, such as cardamon, cinnamon or ginger, and some kind of sweetener. Honey is very common. The beverage may also be referred to as turmeric milk to emphasize the addition of the ayurvedic plant-based ingredient. 

Turmeric has earned global recognition as a “superfood” thanks to its bioactive compound curcumin, which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. 

A study published in the July 2022 issue of Molecules examined the extractability of curcuminoids from turmeric using different liquids, including water (cold and warm) and various milks (dairy and plant-based). The researchers found that warm dairy milk extracts significantly more curcuminoids than water. You can read more about the study HERE.

The concept of Golden Milk can be translated into other dairy products, including ice cream and yogurt. Earlier this year, Desi Naturals introduced Indian Yogurts in 5.3-ounce cups. Varieties are Honey Turmeric, Malai Kulfi (dessert style), Mango Cardamon (homestyle) and Mishti Doi (Indian crème brulee).

Hopefully I have fueled your innovation fire. Have a great weekend.

Dairy Speaks the MAHA Love Language: Be Real.

 

“Milk isn’t Democratic or Republican. It’s universal, as household data shows,” wrote Gregg Doud, president and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation, on Sept. 2, 2025. “That’s something to prize in 2025. It should stay that way.” 

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative is many things. Some are unsettling, many are controversial but for dairy, MAHA offers opportunities for policies that better align with what nutrition scientists and families already know: dairy boosts public health and its consumption should be encouraged. 

“Dairy needs to be ready to support good ideas and educate both policymakers and consumers in ways that benefit everyone it serves,” said Doud. 

We are all ambassadors for dairy and the time is now to speak up. That’s because “it” is out there. What’s “it?” 

“It” is the truth about dairy. That it is inherently nutritious. That pasteurization makes it safe and does not impact that inherent nutrition. That milk delivers 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and protein. And, that milk’s unique matrix also provides the body with bioactives responsible for critical steps in physiological functions. 

That’s correct. Scientists are starting to better understand that these compounds, when present in whole, minimally processed foods, interact with each other, impacting digestion and absorption. In the dairy industry, this is now called the Dairy Matrix effect. In simple terms, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is “food as medicine.” This is the future of food. This is “it,” what we have all been waiting for. 

“Dairy’s future is incredibly bright,” according to Doud. “Any skepticism toward that idea can quickly be countered with about 10 billion reasons. That’s the dollar amount of investments in new dairy processing capacity that’s coming online between 2023 and 2026, according to an NMPF analysis. Ultimately, these investments are an investment in the U.S. dairy farmer.”

This is all happening at the same time as the iconic “got milk?” campaign celebrates its 30th anniversary. The California Milk Processor Board introduced the campaign in 1993, then licensed it to the Milk Processor Education Program in 1995 for national use.

To commemorate this important year, the California Milk Processor Board has embarked on a statewide tour that includes a traveling photo studio, giving people the opportunity to pose with a milk mustache on their upper lip for a photo. 

The poster language reads: “Real is back. Real people. Real milk. Real protein. Real strength. Real calcium. Real nutrients. Real good. Are we for real? You bet we are.”

Milk—and dairy foods made with milk—speak the MAHA love language. Add some value, in the form of extra nutrients, more protein, less sugar, no lactose, and now you are talking “dairy with benefits.” But remember to keep it real and simple. Be transparent and explain the benefit of the added value. 

Doud wrote: “MAHA’s emphasis on nutrient-dense ‘real’ foods, including whole milk, could further raise demand for traditional dairy products. Fluid milk, yogurts and butter are viewed as less processed than their alternatives. Those products are gaining market share, just look at cottage cheese and yogurt in the snack category. MAHA is part of this trend toward consumers shifting away from additive-laden options toward time-tested nutrition.

Many plant-based alternatives rely heavily on synthetic ingredients, making them suspicious to the often-discussed ‘MAHA moms’ who prefer a diet for their children that’s less dependent on products whose labels read like science projects. We’ve been talking about this for year, and the preference for so-called clean labels is yet another competitive advantage for dairy, which already wins on nutrition, cost and taste.

Speaking of nutrition, the MAHA conversation provides an opportunity to highlight the essential nutrients present in dairy products, including calcium, vitamins and bioactive fatty acids. Dairy can be front-and-center in a healthy diet. We can lead the conversation.

[At the same time, we] need to be very clear in communicating the value modern agriculture provides to U.S. and global consumers. Technology and innovation has made America the world’s agricultural leader and giving up on any of it without a thorough conversation and understanding the implications of any actions is essential.”

This latter statement is a reference to farmers’ need for chemical and biologic products to protect against weeds, pests and disease. In the MAHA report released Sept. 9, 2025, this was addressed, and the agriculture industry was pleased with the proposed efforts. 

My colleague Jeff Gelski at Food Business News wrote “Ag industry praises MAHA report’s pesticide views.” You can read more HERE. 

Also on September 9, MAHA released the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, a sweeping plan with more than 120 initiatives to reverse the failed policies that fueled America’s childhood chronic disease epidemic. As ambassadors for dairy, it’s time to dedicate resources to raise public awareness and education.

“U.S. dairy farmers, processors and the entire dairy supply chain share the Commission’s goal of reducing childhood chronic disease. America’s dairy companies have already reduced added sugars in flavored school milk by 60% since 2006 and are actively removing all certified artificial colors from dairy products included in school meals and ice cream sold at retail,” said Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association. “At the same time, dairy companies continue to innovate by offering a wider variety of nutrient-rich and lactose-free options to meet the needs of today’s families and children.”

It's all about dairy with benefits.