PepsiCo Inc., and Theo Muller Group in Germany, announced their United States joint venture, Muller Quaker Dairy, will enter the growing U.S. dairy market with premium yogurt this summer.
Cultures, enzymes, and acidulants solve problems for dairy processors. They use these ingredients to shape dairy products into a nearly infinite variety of flavors and textures.
June 7, 2012
Dairy Foods: Tell us about your newest culture systems. What are their properties and benefits?Curic-Bawden: Our latest yogurt cultures are focused on improving the quality of nonfat and low-fat yogurts. They provide extra-high viscosity, a good “thickness” of mouthfeel, a high level of smoothness, high gel firmness and an improved creaminess.
Brand managers use images of lakes, mountains and ingredients on the foil seal of yogurt and sour cream packages to tell a story of purity and quality.
Give the shopper what she wants. A survey showed that high-quality ingredients were important to consumers, so Brown Cow, Antioch, Calif., re-did its lids.
Dannon is committed to bringing products to market quickly. Fostering internal communication and outside collaboration with suppliers helps the yogurt processor achieve that goal.
When European food makers speak about the potential for their products in the United States, their pupils dilate, they salivate and their hearts race. Take yogurt, for example. Here, we eat 12.8 pounds per person per year. In parts of Europe, annual consumption is as high as 60 pounds per person. Canadians also eat more yogurt than Americans. Per capita consumption was about 22.2 pounds in 2011. If the U.S. just reached Canadian proportions, it would mean nearly doubling the category, which today is valued at approximately $5.5 billion, according to Dannon.
Consumers recognize that cultured dairy products (including yogurt, cottage cheese and fermented milk beverages) are healthy and good-for-you choices. Health professionals consider cultured dairy foods to be nutrient-dense foods, meaning they have a high nutrient-to-energy ratio.
Dairy processors make gains on average prices, but unit sales of yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream all fall in the latest 52 weeks.
May 14, 2012
While unit sales decreased 3% in the yogurt category, dollar sales were up almost 9% to $4.7 billion and the average price per unit increased 13 cents, for the 52 weeks ended March 18. According to Chicago-based SymphonyIRI Group, No. 3 Agro Farma Inc., New Berlin, N.Y., the maker of Chobani Greek yogurt, posted the largest gains. Dollar sales were up 128% to $704 million and unit sales rose 132%.
Today’s consumers are more willing to seek out and try new food products. Delivering products to meet a diverse range of interests is a key to keeping consumer brand loyalty. So what should cultured dairy product processors do to grow and maintain sales and profitability?
“Simple” is the name of the game for Smith’s All Natural Sour Cream. “Today’s consumers are looking for foods with less processing and more natural ingredients,” says Penny Baker, director of marketing, Smith Dairy Products Co., Orrville, Ohio. “Our new All Natural Sour Cream is a simple recipe made with cultured milk and cream. That’s it!”
The cheese processor is energizing old school brands like Philadelphia and Velveeta, developing new foods and formats, and adopting manufacturing practices that save natural resources.
It’s difficult enough for any business to stay relevant, especially when it has brands established 100 or more years ago. Then throw in the challenge of adapting to ever-changing consumer tastes and habits, not to mention manufacturing in an era when a small carbon footprint is a measure of a corporation’s citizenship. That’s part of the landscape in the 21st century, and every business operates in it, some better than others.