Innovation
About Innovation
Product Innovation
Nutrition Innovation
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Dairy checkoff-funded efforts in nutrition, product and technology research aim to increase demand for and sales of U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients by helping stimulate innovation. The programs encourage dairy, food and beverage manufacturers to create new products, ingredients, processes, and packaging.
One way to reach these groups is through the checkoff-funded Dairy Innovation Forum. The forum brings together dairy, food and beverage industry leaders to stimulate innovation in processing, packaging and marketing of dairy products and ingredients, and encourage the use of nutrition claims to reinforce dairy’s superior nutrition benefits.
Research is a key component of increasing dairy demand. The checkoff-funded “Innovate with Dairy” program continually seeks out new ways to improve and assist researchers and manufacturers in developing new dairy products. The program offers dairy research and technology information to help the dairy and food industries bring innovative products, formulations and processes to market.
Producer-funded cheese research has helped cheese makers deliver consumer desired products by better controlling the taste, functionality and nutritional qualities of cheese. Specific examples include:
- Assisting cheese makers to develop domestic versions of imported cheese.
- Developing cheeses with “kid-friendly” flavors and cheeses.
- Sharing cheese innovations to manage stretching, browning and melting functions with the pizza industry — the largest user of cheese among foodservice outlets.
- Researching low-fat processed cheeses for foodservice.
- Helping to make cheese more convenient to use through shreddability and shelf-stability research.
The trend toward health and wellness provides an opportunity for the dairy industry to develop new dairy products that consumers want and will increase sales and consumption.
- The dairy checkoff helps fund research that looks at ways to use probiotics in dairy foods. Sales of dairy foods with probiotics are booming — Activia®, Danon's probiotic yogurt, has been one of the most successful product launches in history.
- The dairy checkoff works with industry partners to develop "plus" and "minus" dairy products that meet consumer needs. Examples of "plus" products include milk and cheese products fortified with added calcium, protein or Omega-3. Examples of "minus" products include reduced-lactose or lactose-free dairy products.
Through producer-funded efforts in product research, nutritionally dense whey protein products have become popular ingredients for manufacturing value-added food and beverages.
- Today, whey protein ingredients come in concentrations from 34 percent to 90 percent protein and are used in products such as muscle recovery drinks, nutrition bars, premium baked goods, and frozen entrees.
Innovation helps increase sales. For example, producer-funded research led to the creation and commercialization of texturized whey protein. This whey protein ingredient now competes with vegetable proteins and is used in nutrition bars, snacks and meats.
Nutrition Innovation
Recent checkoff-funded efforts have increased investments to support new nutrition science research designed to deliver claims that highlight the health and nutrition benefits of whey and other dairy ingredients.
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This new science knowledge is key to creating new compelling, consumer-relevant marketing claims specific to whey proteins, identifying the positive nutritional benefits of whey for body composition.
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These claims will help increase domestic and international use and consumption of dairy by enabling dairy ingredients, such as whey proteins, to compete effectively with other food and beverage ingredients, such as soy.
For more information on ingredient and innovation marketing, visit www.innovatewithdairy.com.