Articles by Barbara Harfmann

The magnanimous cultured dairy category is like a clear-blue summer sky with resurging, in some cases, double-digit growth that is “eclipsing” much of the dairy industry.

Cheese processors’ cheese creations have performed well in recent years, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% from 2018-2023 to barely a whisper of growth, at 0.5%, expected from 2023-2028 to reach $69.7 billion by 2028.

Circana reports that in U.S. multi-outlets and convenience stores for the 52 weeks ending Aug. 11, the overall milk category notched $19.6 billion in dollar sales at a slight 1.2% decrease over the prior year. In the “all other” refrigerated milk segment, however, it was near-perfect fall sunshine with 21.2% growth and $252 million in sales.

Queens and Staten Island merged with New York City. The Bronx Zoo opened. The inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, was coaching Kansas University’s new basketball team. AND in 1899, Dairy Foods (via its predecessor Dairy Record) was established. 

From running the pasteurizer to pumping fresh milk to adding the all-important starter culture to putting the cheese in forms and pressing it down, Master Cheesemaker Tony Hook is hands-on when crafting 70 flavors of aged cheddars, blues and mixed milk cheeses that bear the name of Hook’s Cheese.

While family-run Hook’s Cheese only has seven full-time employees, this 8,500-square-foot cheesemaking plant — originally built as a livery stable to the Washington Hotel in 1875 and is on the National Register of Historic Places — has transcended history as one of the first cheese companies in Wisconsin to perfect the art and science of mixed milk cheeses.

In the dairy industry, inclusions commonly add color, taste, and texture to premium ice cream — think chunks of cookie dough, swirls of caramel, and slivers of nuts and cherries — and yogurt with its now popular “sidecar” packaging. 

In the 1967 musical “Doctor Doolittle,” Rex Harrison in the title role sings about being a “reluctant but sincere vegetarian,” as he hears piglet Gub-Gub’s squeals as sausage and bacon sizzle over an open flame.

Sanitation on dairy farms and in dairy plants is a top priority with heat exchangers ensuring that raw milk is properly pasteurized and safe for human consumption without bacteria like E coli and salmonella. 

Eric Garr, Regional Sales Manager, Food Safety, Checkweighing, and Contaminant Detection Specialist at Fortress Technology, has been with the company for 18 years, starting off as a Field Service Technician before advancing to his current role.