Posted: July 8, 2008 at 7:17 pm
By News Editor
Calling all dairy plants in the U.S. and Canada - did you receive your entry forms for the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest? Be sure to enter your company’s products in this unique and competitive contest! Entries are due by August 8, 2008.
This year’s contest promises to be even bigger and better since it will be expanding to include a wider variety of dairy products: cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, sour cream based-dips, whipping cream, sherbet, buttermilk, butter, cottage cheese, whey, fluid milk and an innovative category. As an added bonus, this year’s contest will have 2 GRAND CHAMPIONS—a Grand Champion of cheese and butter (sponsored by Cheese Market News) and a Grand Champion for Grade A products and ice cream (sponsored by Dairy Foods).
A company may submit as many entries as they wish. All entry forms must be mailed to the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. by August 8, 2008. Once a company has submitted their entry forms and fees, they must ship their contest entries during the week of August 18-21, 2008.
Judging will take place on the following dates:
August 26 – ice cream, sherbet, whey products and creative/innovative technologies
August 27—cheese and butter
August 28—Yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, fluid milk, buttermilk, sour cream-based dips and whipping cream
After judging is concluded, all winners will be notified. The winning entries will then be auctioned off on Tuesday, September 30 at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. A portion of the auction proceeds will be used to fund the Dr. Robert Bradley Scholarship, which will be awarded to a student pursuing a career in the dairy industry.
Posted: July 8, 2008 at 7:09 pm
By News Editor
The New Zealand based dairy ingredients supplier company, Fonterra, recently opened their new North American corporate headquarters and laboratory in Chicago.
The laboratory — an application and sensory technical and development centre — will be used to work more closely with North American customers developing products using NZ technology and ingredients.
Fonterra’s US operations produce revenues of about $NZ2.67 ($NZ3.57) billion. The company runs a joint venture, DairiConcepts, with the largest dairy co-operative in the US, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), to process milk from DFA members into milk protein concentrates — increasingly used in chilled products such as dairy desserts — and milkpowders and specialty ingredients. Fonterra also works closely with Dairy America, a group of nine US-based co-operative dairy companies, to export US-origin milk powder into the global marketplace.
Fonterra previously had a base in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but collected a $US1.14 million ($NZ1.5 million) investment package from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in the process of re-locating to Chicago.
“Fonterra sees exciting opportunities in its US business and we want to grow it together with our key customers,” said Fonterra USA’s chief operating officer, Martin Bates. “We also want to use the US as a supply base to allow us to work with our international customers to ensure quality exports are sourced from the US to meet growing international demand. The US is increasingly becoming a supplier to the world market, so we look at this as an opportunity to invest,” he said.
More than 50 percent of the skim milk powder sold by Fonterra internationally last year was manufactured in the US. The US market for fluid milk is the third-largest globally — behind India and the EU — and, according to US Department of Agriculture estimates, it could reach 27.5 million tonnes this year. In the US, Fonterra intends to continue making dairy ingredients, Mr Ferrier said.
Posted: June 2, 2008 at 8:54 pm
By News Editor
New research indicates that when it comes to feeding infants formula, ones made from cow’s milk may be a better choice than soy.
In a clinical report based on a review of available information just released, experts have delivered the definitive word on feeding infants soy protein-based formulas versus cow milk formulas: Why use soy at all?
“Why feed soy when there is no indication for it?” said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, and one of the lead authors of the report by the Committee on Nutrition for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Cow milk is the preferred choice if you cannot breast-feed.”
“When a mother came into the office complaining about colic, fussiness, excessive spitting, constipation — you name it — and attributing it to the infant’s cow milk formula, the first thing I did was change the infant to a soy formula,” said Dr. Frank Greer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin and the other lead author of the report.
“If the situation improved for whatever reason, the child was thought to be allergic or intolerant of cow milk by the mother, thus promoting a myth of cow milk allergy/intolerance,” Greer said.
The simple solution would be to eliminate formula altogether and breast-feed, the gold standard for infant nutrition. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend breast-feeding exclusively for the first four to six months and then slowly introducing solid foods, continuing to breast-feed until the infant is about a year old.
“In general, formula use is associated with increased illnesses, both infectious and chronic, like diabetes and cancers, and yet there is no warning on the label,” said Dr. Miriam Labbok, director of the Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We must begin to view formula as a risky choice for infant feeding, and do more to support women to succeed in breast-feeding.”
Choosing cow milk formula, soy formula or breast-feeding ultimately comes down to personal preference, or, in a few cases, to medical necessity. But without any demonstrated benefit to soy formula for the average healthy infant, choosy pediatricians still choose cow milk.
Posted: April 20, 2008 at 12:27 pm
By News Editor
The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) is looking for a few good judges for their annual World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. The contest, held in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo, is in its sixth year. Do you have what it takes to be a judge? Then be sure to get your resume to the WDPA by May 23, 2008!
This year’s contest will have 55 different categories, encompassing a wide range of dairy products that include, cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, yogurt, whey, cottage cheese, sour cream, whipping cream and more.
WDPA is issuing a “call for judges” for the championship dairy product contest. WDPA is seeking judges for these products:
Cheese and Butter – 10 judges needed
Yogurt – 2 judges
Ice Cream and Sherbet – 2 judges
Whey Products – 2 judges
Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream and Sour Cream Dips – 2 judges
Fluid Milk and Cultured Buttermilk – 2 judges
Interested parties should send their resumes to Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn, 8383 Greenway Blvd, Middleton, WI 53562.
Posted: April 3, 2008 at 6:28 pm
By News Editor
The Australian processor Dairy Farmers has received an initial bid from National Foods, owned by Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings. The deal could be worth $920 million. Dairy Farmers is owned by more than 2,000 Australian dairy producers. The company manufacturers branded milk, cheese and yogurt.
A deal would mark a significant ramp-up in Kirin’s presence in Australia, just a few months after it bought National Foods, one of the country’s largest food groups, for A$2.8 billion ($2.7 billion).
Dairy Farmers, which is owned by some 2,000 Australian farmers and makes Dairy Farmers brand milk, Coon cheese and Ski yoghurt, put itself up for sale last month. It said on Friday it has seen wide interest in a potential deal, which could be worth A$800 million-A$1 billion.
Posted: March 10, 2008 at 3:46 pm
By News Editor
Leaders from Hilmar Cheese Co., California Dairies Inc. and Land O’Lakes Inc. met in Modesto, Calif. last week to discuss the state’s milk processing capacity. They said demand for their products is healthy, but plant construction is hindered by state regulations.
“California is a disaster on plant capacity,” said Richard Cotta, president and chief executive officer at California Dairies Inc., which has plants in Turlock, Los Banos and elsewhere.
He was part of a panel discussion at the annual convention of Western United Dairymen at Modesto Centre Plaza. Also taking part were John Jeter, president and CEO of Hilmar Cheese Co., and Bill Schreiber, a vice president for Land O’Lakes Inc. in Tulare.
After the session, all three told The Bee that they had no plans for converting the recently closed Hershey Co. chocolate plant in Oakdale to dairy processing. Cotta said California Dairies did consider the option but found that it would be too expensive and too far from its milk suppliers.
Milk is the top farm product in California, the nation’s leading producer, with about 4.5 billion gallons in 2006. The state often has a surplus, a result of its large per cow output and farm size, its mostly good weather, and its advanced breeding and feeding practices.
Often, a surplus leads to low prices for farmers, as happened in 2006. This year, prices are relatively strong, because of a drought affecting Australian producers and other factors. Still, California farmers face increased costs for feed, fuel, labor and other things that go into producing milk. They believe that an expansion of plant capacity would prompt processors to compete for the milk with high prices, helping meet expenses on the farm.
“We were very thorough and looked around California, but California is a challenging place to do business,” Jeter said.
Cotta said the process would be easier if his company could find a site that already had the needed permits. Processing capacity aside, the executives said the industry overall is doing well. Exports are strong, and many consumers believe that dairy products are good for them.
Posted: January 8, 2008 at 6:09 pm
By News Editor
Nestlé has introduced a revolutionary fountain drink called Sjora - a refreshing mix of milk and juice. Sjora contains 10-percent milk and 5-percent juice and has just 90 calories per 8-ounce serving. Mad Greens, a made-to-order salad bar based in Colo. is one of a handful of restaurants testing the product nationwide.
Adding Sjora helps Mad Greens “round out our concept” as a healthy eatery, said Marley Hodgson, who co-founded Mad Greens with childhood friend Dan Long. Nestle, meanwhile, sees Sjora as a way to make itself into the Coca-Cola of healthier beverages at a time when consumers are growing wary of artificial flavors and corn syrup.
The international food company crafted Sjora as a “light-tasting, very refreshing” beverage that blends about 10 percent milk and 5 percent juice, said spokeswoman Kathy Lenkov. The company offers two flavors, tropical pineapple and mango peach, in regular and diet varieties.
While natural beverages like Honest Tea and Odwalla often are offered at quick-service restaurants in bottled form, Nestle is offering Sjora as a $1.50 fountain drink. That means it costs less, doesn’t take up precious shelf space and gives restaurants a larger cut of the profit.
“At a restaurant like Mad Greens, up to half the people purchasing food choose to take tap water because there isn’t a beverage choice for them,” Lenkov said. “This is a way to capture those customers.”
Posted: October 22, 2007 at 5:04 pm
By News Editor
Two cheese manufacturers in Wisconsin have announced expansion projects. Masters Gallery and Sartori Foods, both of Plymouth, Wis. are planning $8 million and $15 million expansions respectively. Plymouth has been known for years for quality cheese production, earning the city the well-deserved title of “Cheese Capital” of the world.
Masters Gallery’s expansion will eventually add about 40 new jobs. Sartori’s plans don’t specify just how many new jobs will be added to the local economy, but it’s safe to say that there will be significant economic benefit once both expansions are completed. Masters Gallery and Sartori both expect things to be done by the end of 2008.
The art and science of cheese production, packaging and distribution has changed dramatically over the years and Plymouth cheese makers — including Sargento — have been the leaders. While the milk these manufacturers use comes from Wisconsin cows, the cheeses they make wind up on tables, in food products and in restaurants around the world.
Expansions, such as those at Masters Gallery and Sartori, allow companies to keep pace with changing technology and meet the demand of a worldwide marketplace. The rise in demand for specialty cheeses — and the ability of Plymouth cheese makers to meet it — has no doubt led to the expansion decisions.
The future is bright for Wisconsin and cheese making.
Wisconsin made a record 2.5 billion pounds of cheese in 2006, accounting for 26 percent of the national cheese market. And Wisconsin cheese exports are on a record pace through the first half of 2007. At this year’s United States Cheese Championships, Wisconsin manufacturers accounted for 60 percent of the best-in-class awards.
Posted: September 20, 2007 at 7:26 pm
By News Editor
The Championship Dairy Product contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn (WDPA), was held September 5 & 6 at the Madison Area Technical College (MATC) Culinary School and September 7 at UW-Madison’s Babcock Hall. The contest received a record number of 360 entries for cheese, butter, fluid milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, sour cream, sherbet, buttermilk, sour cream dips, whipping cream, dried whey and creative/innovative products from throughout the United States.
Fair Oaks Dairy Products, Fair Oaks, IN was selected as the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion and Kraft Foods Global Inc., Beaver Dam, WI was selected as the Grade A & Ice Cream Grand Champion of the World Dairy Expo (WDE) Championship Dairy Product Contest.
On October 2, the contest’s auction will be held at World Dairy Expo in Madison, at which time all category 1st place winners will be auctioned off. A portion of the proceeds from the October 2 contest auction will be donated directly to the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s Education Foundation.
Posted: August 8, 2007 at 6:26 pm
By News Editor
The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) is proud to announce that Dairy Field magazine and Cheese Market News have finalized an agreement with WDPA to become the exclusive sponsors of the Grand Champion Awards for the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest.
Cheese Market News will be the annual sponsor of the Grand Champion Award for Cheese and Butter, while Dairy Field magazine will be the annual sponsor of the Grand Champion Award for Grade A Products and Ice Cream.
“We’re extremely happy to have two of the leading dairy industry publications joining our contest,” says Brad Legreid, WDPA executive director. “Dairy Field and Cheese Market News are well-known and highly respected media sources within our industry and their participation will help our contest continue its phenomenal growth and success,” according to Legreid.
Posted: August 6, 2007 at 4:52 pm
By News Editor
Tomorrow consumers in New Jersey will be able to purchase their milk from cows that reside in their state - distributor Consolidated Dairies is launching a local milk called Jersey Fresh Skim Free.
Banking on a movement to promote eating locally grown foods, the state’s agriculture department is promising that 100 percent of Jersey Fresh Skim Free comes entirely from cows on dairy farms in the Garden State. Consolidated is betting consumers will pay more for the milk because they know exactly where it comes from and it helps local farmers, said Frank Ferrante, chief executive officer of distributor Consolidated Dairies.
Compared to generic milk, the cost is about $1 per half-gallon more for milk exclusively from the area, and sales have grown by 30 to 40 percent over the last year, said cooperative president Sam Simon. Increasingly, consumers want to know where their food is grown, said Valoria Loveland, director of Washington state’s department of agriculture and president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Consumers have already shown they will pay more for locally grown milk products, such as cheese and yogurt, as well as organic milk, where farmers adhere to a list of practices, said Rusty Bishop, director for the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research and professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
New Jersey officials had long wanted to follow up the success of their Jersey Fresh produce program with a local milk program to help dairy farmers struggling with high land costs in a state sandwiched between two major metropolitan areas. Jersey Fresh Skim Free promises no fat, added antibiotics or recombinant bovine somatotropin - hormones used to stimulate greater milk production. It will cost on average 50 cents more per half gallon than generic milk.
Posted: June 29, 2007 at 7:31 pm
By News Editor
Here’s another new product: milk with cholesterol-reducing ability. Kroger Markets is marketing the line under its Active Lifestyle brand.
It adds to the company’s expanding lines for consumers of health-conscious and natural/organic foods and the in-house brands the company sees as an important part of its profit growth strategy.
“There’s a major trend toward health and wellness in the country,” said Linda Severin, Kroger’s vice president for corporate brands. “Managing cholesterol is just a key need for many of our customers. This is a way we can help our customers be proactive with their heart health.”
The milk uses an ingredient with plant sterols, found naturally in some vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other foods. The Food and Drug Administration has said plant sterols may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels when used in recommended amounts as part of a healthy diet. The CoroWise plant sterols extract, from Cargill Inc., already is offered in a range of national brand products from orange juice to granola bars.
Posted: May 15, 2007 at 7:41 pm
By News Editor
Exploring new venues for dairy products is a major push in the industry right now. One of the hottest trends is formulating new products containing milk proteins. An added benefit to producers!
As consumers have begun giving credence to scientific data indicating the importance of quality protein in the diet, the marketplace for all proteins is expanding. Soy, milk, casein and rice protein have defined roles in the market, especially since consumers with food allergies and other health concerns are aware of the potential health benefits of protein.
Protein is increasingly associated with satiety, weight loss and sustained energy because it digests slowly in the human body and aids in controlling insulin fluctuations. Health-conscious consumers are taking note, and the market is diversifying. As sales of functional foods topped $25 billion in 2006 and should gross $39 billion by 2011—demand for protein of all shapes and sizes is high. To address the American preference for convenience, formulators are demanding various powdered proteins, which is keeping manufacturers busy.
Milk proteins haven’t ruled the protein supplement market for over a decade by chance. When whey protein came to be associated with weight lifters, early manufacturers developed keen marketing strategies to create markets outside of muscle building and exercise recovery. The adage about milk doing a body good also benefited marketing efforts for isolated milk proteins. When the health benefits of protein began circulating in media outlets besides muscle mags, manufacturers looking to fortify existing products with protein naturally defaulted to whey and casein. Dairy proteins have plenty of health benefits. Milk protein is now associated with satiety because of digestion duration and the prolonged feeling of fullness after protein consumption.
Posted: December 19, 2006 at 11:14 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
As you know, Pioneer Hi-Bred has been a supporter of World Dairy Diary with their Forage Forum podcast. They just announced that they’ve got 3 new alfalfa products for the 2007 planting season.
Pioneer® brand varieties 54R02, 53H92 and 54V09 offer growers specific traits and resistance packages for various growing environments and conditions. 54R02 is a high-yielding, four-dormant variety with good forage quality, and it displays strong winter hardiness and an excellent disease-resistance package.
54R02 includes Roundup Ready® technology and can be used in most alfalfa-growing regions.
53H92, a high-yielding, three-dormant variety, shows exceptional resistance to potato leafhoppers and also has good forage quality. The disease-resistance package for this variety adapts well to areas with annual potato leafhopper infestations from eastern Nebraska and South Dakota to the eastern United States and Canada.
54V09, another high-yielding, four-dormant variety, demonstrates excellent nematode resistance for most western environments. It performs well in winter conditions and has an outstanding disease-resistance package.
Posted: October 23, 2006 at 5:08 pm
By News Editor
Our future supply of ice cream seems to be in good shape. The Washington Post reports that Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc. recently opened a remodeled plant in Laurel, Maryland. The company manufactures the popular Haagen-Dazs, Edy’s and Nestle ice creams.
The plant is large enough to cover more than 14 football fields, churn out 58 million gallons of ice cream a year and supply the entire eastern half of the United States with pints of Haagen-Dazs.
During the past two years, the Oakland, Calif., company invested $210 million into expanding a small ice cream-making facility in Laurel and creating one of the largest ice cream plants in the world. To make space for the growth, Dreyer’s purchased an adjacent 32-acre mobile home park, chipped in to buy out the tenants, and even found homes for some 50 feral cats on the property.
That plant, which is six times bigger than the original, can store enough milk to fill 10 Olympic-size pools. And it has added five ice cream production lines to its previous six, and plans to add nine more.
Posted: September 13, 2006 at 5:54 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Kraft Foods will invest more than $10 million to improve its cream cheese manufacturing plant in Lowville, N.Y. In return, Kraft will receive a state grant of up to 950-thousand dollars to assist in the purchase of machinery, equipment and related facility improvements. The announcement was made last week by New York Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue.
The company plans to reconfigure a packaging line at the facility, install advanced waste treatment technologies, and upgrade electrical service to allow for increased peak electrical demand.
The Lowville plant is Kraft Foods’ largest cream cheese manufacturing plant, processing more than 300 million pounds of milk annually — supplied entirely by a cooperative of more than 200 local dairy farms. It has 279 full-time and 53 part-time employees.
Posted: July 31, 2006 at 5:08 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
According to the August 2006 Accelerated Genetics newsletter, SOP® is a new patented technology designed to improve the environment for dairy cattle and calves. SOP® creates a healthier environment for livestock by reducing the pathogenic bacteria and stimulating beneficial bacteria. SOP® is not a disinfectant nor is it a bacterial enzyme - but rather a revolutionary new technology. SOP® is formulated for use in bedding packs, compost barns, free stalls, slatted or scraped barns and calf housing.
