Welcome to the dairy case, a round-up of what’s new in products, companies and marketing. In this issue: Alpina, Karoun Dairies, Milano’s Cheese, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Smart Balance, Castello Blue Cheese, Green's Ice Cream and more.

IN THE NEWS

The leaders of the International Dairy Foods Association's three constituent organizations said this week they support IDFA's dairy policy reform recommendations and oppose the National Milk Producers Federation's dairy policy package. The directors of the Milk Industry Foundation, the National Cheese Institute and the International Ice Cream Association approved the association's policy recommendations that would reform the Federal Milk Marketing Orders and provide a better safety net for dairy farmers.

 

"IDFA's plan offers an alternative path forward that would not limit milk supply through a new mandatory government program, and will give dairy farmers the tools they need to manage volatility," said Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO. "We support policy initiatives -many of which are included in the Dairy Industry Advisory Committee recommendations-that will help our industry grow, not only through increased consumption here in the U.S., but by taking advantage of new and growing export opportunities."

 

The Environmental Protection Agency exempted milk and milk product containers from its oil spill prevention rule. EPA exempted not only milk containers at the farm and at fluid milk processing facilities, but also at all dairy processing facilities. The International Dairy Foods Association called this “the right thing to do.”

 

The Food and Drug Administration is holding a public meeting on April 20 to focus on the implications of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act on Preventive Controls for Facilities. The location is FDA White Oak Campus, The Great Room Building 31, Room 1503, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, Md. The meeting also will be webcast (register at https://collaboration.fda.gov/preventivecontrols/).

 

Fonterra said cheddar cheese would be offered for sale on the globalDairyTrade electronic trading platform from the July 19 Trading Event. The addition will expand the range of products available on the platform to seven, including whole milk powder, skim milk powder, butter milk powder and anhydrous milk fat. Fonterra will begin offering milk protein concentrate and rennet casein from the May 17 trading event. Ian Palliser, Director of Optimization, Trading and Sourcing, said adding cheese was in line with Fonterra’s plans to provide customers with a wide range of products on a world class platform.

 

The FDA released its quarterly Interstate Milk Shippers List. Download a copy at the FDA website.

New York state’s Genesee County Economic Development Center reported that Alpina plans to build a 28,000-square-foot dairy manufacturing plant in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park in Batavia, N.Y. The plant will create 50 jobs. Alpina, established in 1945, runs nine industrial facilities in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

The Armenian American Chamber of Commerce named Karoun Dairies the 2011 Business of the Year. Karoun makes a wide variety of cheese and yogurt products using only milk from cows that are free from growth hormones such as BGH/rBST. Karoun founder and CEO Anto Baghdassarian accepted the award.

 

J.V.M. Sales Corp d/b/a Milano’s Cheese Corp., Linden, N.J., received certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) on a state and national level. The cheese manufacturing company has been in the Falcone family for more than 25 years and is now under the leadership of the founder’s daughter Mary Beth Tomasino, who started working in the company’s finance division and gradually became more involved in all aspects of Milano’s.

 

Lifeway Foods said it plans to donate $10,000 to the American Red Cross in support of the organization's Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.

The most innovative cultured dairy product, as determined by the International Dairy Foods Association, is an all-natural, low-fat vanilla yogurt by Upstate Niagara Cooperative. The product gives foodservice operators a food that consumers can use easily to build their own healthy yogurt parfaits. Orange Carrot Cranberry Fruit & Vegetable Yogurt by California Custom Fruits and Flavors was named the most innovative prototype for milk or cultured dairy products.  The awards in the Most Innovative Dairy Products Competition, sponsored by TIC Gums, were presented at last month’s IDFA's Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Symposium.

 

The food industry continues to reformulate food products to lower the amount of “bad” ingredients in their products, meeting new recommendations and consumer demand for healthier products, says the Dairy Council of California. Its TRENDS newsletter lays out nine other nutrition trends for 2011. Other trends include: nutritional milk components continue to gain positive research attention; government calcium and vitamin D recommendations are seen as conservative by some nutrition experts; social networking and mobile apps are enabling more consumer-direct communications; and convenience, economics and health are influencing our food choices.

 

Richard Parker, president and creative director of Creative Direction, a marketing communications in Indianapolis, told the 46th annual convention of the California Cheese & Butter Association that social network marketing budgets will increase about two-thirds each year. “With budgets up 80% in 2010 and technology continuing to grow quickly in smart phones, mobile will succeed desktops and laptops as the primary computer device in 2013.

 

E-commerce will become common place for online purchase through social sites. And video will become the predominant tool for information delivery, especially for marketing communications," he said.

 

More shoppers than ever before are buying retailers’ brands instead of national brands, according to a survey by the Private Label Manufacturers Association. Private-label ice cream retails for an average of $2.56 per unit compared to $4.66 for a national brand. Over a six-week period, the study showed that shoppers on average could save 33.3% off their grocery bill by buying the store brand of 40 essential household items and pantry staples.

Smart Balance promotes its products as heart-healthier ingredients for Easter or Mother’s Day brunches. In emails to food writers, the company shares two brunch recipes -- French Toast Casserole with Berry Sauce, and Individual Egg & Cheese Casseroles – each with 385 calories or less and 16 to 18 grams of protein per serving.

At the 2011 IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo, June 11-14 in New Orleans, the U.S. Dairy Export Council will show how dairy ingredients can contribute to improved taste, functionality and nutrition in a variety of products that are targeted to different consumer groups. Among the prototype demonstrations are “Protein throughout the day” which includes a protein-packed breakfast waffle and a chilled pasta salad made with cheese and whey protein pasta. USDEC will promote yogurt as a functional ingredient, offering a savory, yogurt-based beverage.

 

L.A. Creamery jumps on the royal bandwagon with its Regal CV Sorbet, a mix of Chambord Flavored Vodka, cucumber, fresh organic raspberries and fresh squeezed lemon juice. The official cocktail for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is called The Regal CV cocktail. L.A. Creamery’s product is a limited-edition, available from April 18 to 29.

 

Protica Inc.’s ProticaCares Sweet Treats Giveaway program will send a Carvel Ice Cream cake and a variety of tasty, healthy treats to a different U.S. grade school or children's hospital unit every week for the next 75 years. The program has been initiated to help teach children the importance of balanced nutrition and the combination of healthy and sweet treats as part of a well-rounded diet and lifestyle. Protica Inc. manufactures capsulized foods, such as Profect, IsoMetric, Fruitasia and Protein Gem in ready-to-drink form.

 

Castello Blue Cheese sponsors the Bravo's Top Chef: The Tour, a 20-city tour beginning April 15th at Soulard Farmer's Market in St. Louis. The tour features a cook-off between two former contestants from the cable television show. The cheesemaker will offer samples of its award-winning cheeses.

 

Green's Ice Cream turns to consumers to pick a new flavor to help the dairy processor celebrate its centennial anniversary. The contest runs through Aug. 31 and is open to residents of Delaware, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. A mail-in entry form will be included in local newspapers on April 17 and May 8. The winning flavor will be produced by Green's and sold in 2012.

 

Smith Dairy Products Co. is winding up its Name the Chocolate Cow contest. The deadline for entries is May 25 and the winner will be selected on June 3. The processor seeks a name for the chocolate cow on its 1% low-fat chocolate milk package.

April 25-27. The 2011 annual conference of The American Dairy Products Institute, Elmhurst, Ill., and The American Butter Institute, Arlington, Va. at the Chicago Marriott Downtown in Chicago. www.adpi.org.

April 26-27. Safe Pasteurization: Concepts & Theory. Guelph Food Technology Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. http://www.gftc.ca/

 

May 11-13. SIAL Canada 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. http://tinyurl.com/4ro5djo

 

May 18-20. SIAL China 2011 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center. http://tinyurl.com/4ro5djo

 

June 7-9. Global Dairy Congress, St. Petersburg, Russia. http://tinyurl.com/69sd5dz

 

June 8-10. Practical Membrane Technology Short Course, St. Louis Park, Minn. www.membranecourse.com/

 

June 15-16. The INTL FCStone Outlook Conference, Chicago. http://www.intlfcstone.com/seminars/outlook/Pages/default.aspx

 

Sept. 18-21. 2011 International Whey Conference, Chicago. www.iwc-2011.org

 

Sept. 19-21. 2011 International Dairy Show, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta. www.dairyshow.com

 

Oct. 18-21. Cibus Tec, the International Exhibition on the Food Processing and Packaging in Parma, Italy. www.cibustec.it.

 

Dec. 6 – 8. Dairy Universe India, Mumbai, India. www.dairyuniverseindia.com