Protein, GLP-1 trends reshaping dairy category outlook

CHICAGO – When Rachel Royster, director-strategic planning and innovation, with the consultancy CSSI/Connections, Chicago, concluded her presentation about the impact of GLP-1-users on foodservice operations at the National Restaurant Association Show, held May 16 to 19 in Chicago, she projected that dairy will be the next category to get “maxxed.”

Protein is there, fiber is moving up and anything dairy might be next, Royster said.

“GLP-1 users want quality products that taste good,” she said. “Dairy is delivering on all fronts. Dairy foods are protein powerhouses. The calcium content provides a bone density shield, and, fermented dairy delivers probiotics that restore gut balance and produce butyrate, a compound that boosts natural GLP-1 secretion.”

What’s helping make dairy attractive to today’s consumers is the investment that the new generation of farmers and processors is making in science and product innovation. Milk is no longer just milk.

“The American dairy industry is evolving rapidly,” said Michael Dykes, president and chief executive officer of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, when speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Idaho Milk Products’ new ice cream and powder blending facility on May 28 in Jerome, Idaho. “We are producing more nutritious products, creating more value from every pound of milk, investing in advanced technology and meeting growing consumer demand for high-quality protein and dairy ingredients here at home and around the world.”

Daragh Maccabee, CEO of Idaho Milk Products, told attendees the future of food systems is about adding value to agricultural commodities, which is what the company is doing for dairy.

Idaho Milk Products is a young company, founded in 2009. The farmers who supply the milk also are younger. They are embracing new ways of farming and don’t see milk as just milk.

“This entire project is the coming together of inspiration, imagination and innovation,” Maccabee said. “It allows us to take our milk protein powders to the next stage with customized blending solutions and allows us to take the same value-added approach with cream as we have done with milk protein.

Idaho Milk Products invested $190 million to enable the company to convert milk into a wide range of finished products and ingredients.

| Photo: Idaho Milk Products

“We believe this is a plant built for the future. When we describe our core purpose for being a business, we say it’s about bringing value to milk for generations. Every project, every decision, every action — we ask ourselves, ‘will it add value to the milk and will it do it for the longer term.’”

The $190 million investment will enable the company to turn milk into a wider range of finished products and ingredients. It was built to boost capacity and make better use of milk components, helping the company move more volume into higher-value dairy products for both foodservice and retail customers.

Ian O’Neil, director of consumer intelligence, Rubix Foods, Jacksonville, Fla., told Food Business News dairy is a huge focus across all food product development.

“We’re seeing strong momentum driven by how well dairy delivers at the intersection of comfort and function, offering familiarity and indulgence, while also supporting growing demand for benefits like protein, energy and gut health,” he said. “For a long time, the farmer was the hero in food. Then things changed about 15 years ago when science started leading the way. We’re back to the farmer. It’s not a rejection of science, but it’s about putting trust in things one understands on food labels.”

Dairy processors played in very specific lanes, O’Neil said. Butter was butter. Milk was milk.

But that’s no longer the case, Dykes said.

“Idaho Milk Products’ new powder blending operation takes high-quality dairy ingredients and transforms them into customized products for food manufacturers and consumers across a wide range of applications, from nutrition products to beverages to food innovation,” he said. “It allows dairy to move further up the value chain.”

O’Neil said, “Different forms of dairy are emerging. Overall, dairy is uniquely positioned to deliver on comfort, crave-ability and functionality all at once.”

He also said there’s a lot going on in texture-driven innovation and indulgence. Consumers believe it is acceptable to indulge. When it can be done mindfully with clean and simple dairy foods, all the better.

“Creamy textures continue to signal indulgence, quality and nostalgia for today’s consumer,” O’Neil said. “Consumers, especially younger generations, are increasingly drawn to creamy formats, with nearly a third expressing interest in them.”