Like a powerful blizzard blasting the landscape, health and wellness is socking it to the dairy ingredients’ sector. But rather than snow, ice, and high winds pelting consumers, shoppers are facing a deluge of such positive elements as products that are low in sugar, high in protein, and those that contain prebiotics and probiotics.

On Sept. 23, Danone offered to pay some $283 million — $25 per share — to purchase the 76.6% of Lifeway Foods it didn't own. The plan was rejected.CEO Julie Smolyansky talks about the company's history and success with Dairy Foods.

Today’s health-conscious consumers are trying to live their best lives. As a result, they're reading labels and discovering that cheese, yogurt, drinkable yogurt, kefir, and other fermented dairy products not only provide satiety but are proven to benefit digestive health.

The need for prebiotics — as well as probiotics and postbiotics — continues to grow in the dairy marketplace.

A review of new yogurts introduced in the market over the past two years from the Innova Market Insights database shows examples of products made from goat, sheep, and A2/A2 milks in North America. 

The pickleball craze is sweeping the nation. While the sport began in Washington State in 1965, the number of people playing pickleball today is skyrocketing.

The Danone Fellowship Grant was established in 2010 to provide funding for novel studies of yogurt, probiotics, and the gut microbiome.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased consumer interest in immune health and sales of probiotic foods and beverages. Circana (previously IRI and NPD) reports that probiotic beverages have increased both dollar and unit sales for the past three years, and probiotics were found in over 30 beverage subcategories.

Prebiotics work as a fertilizer to boost growth of “good” bacteria, probiotics. Choosing the right pre-, pro- or postbiotic strains can help with unintentional weight gain, fatigue, sickness, and digestive health, experts note.
 

Probiotics are friendly microbes that safely enhance nutritional value in dairy products.