The American Dairy Products Institute hosted the first ever Dairy Technology Week, October 25 through the 29th . This event combined two popular meetings – the 23rd Dairy Ingredients Technical Symposium and the biennial Global Cheese Technology Forum to provide the dairy ingredient industry one very informative and robust event. The program, conducted virtually over five days attracted attendees from 79 organizations hailing from 10 countries, and 25 U.S. states, and included 14 academic institutions.

History repeated this week as the American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI) and the American Butter Institute (ABI) again joined forces to host their Joint Annual Conference virtually.  This iconic industry annual conference continues to be referred to as “Where the Dairy Industry Does Business ^TM.”    Dairy ingredients and related products industry stakeholders from some 30+ U.S. States and Canadian provinces, and some 15+ other countries worldwide logged-in and logged-on to virtually engage and participate in various dairy industry centric sessions covering a myriad of topics across both challenges and opportunities, current and future focused.

The American Dairy Products Institute® is pleased to announce that they have selected three recipients for the 2021 ADPI Scholarship Award Program. The three recipients of the Jim Page Memorial Scholarships, Yasmira Alverez of Patterson, California, Mary Greer of Ballwin, Missouri, and Lydia Rockers of Carthage, Missouri, were each presented with $2,000 scholarships at the 2021 ADPI/ABI Joint Virtual Annual Conference.

 
The American Dairy Products Institute would like to congratulate the team at Eurofins DQCI and Michelle McBride with GoodSport Nutrition as the recipients of the 2021 Breakthrough Award for Dairy Ingredient Innovation, a competition sponsored by ADPI and Dairy Foods, that honors achievements by members of the American Dairy Products Institute.  

The American Dairy Products Institute® (ADPI) is pleased to announce Jerry O’Dea as the 2021 Recipient of the Award of Merit.  The Award of Merit was established in 1991 to recognize individuals who have made a significant difference in the processed dairy products industry.

Becoming an Olympic athlete is no easy feat. It requires passion, dedication and a true competitive edge. Not to mention the thousands of hours of intense training accompanied by a strategic diet. For most Olympians, these diets incorporate carbohydrates, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables and lots of protein. While each diet might look different for every athlete, these Olympians competing in the 2020 Olympic Games share one common diet staple to fuel their bodies: REAL milk.

I recently had the good fortune to travel from the inferno of California’s Central Valley to the upper Midwest’s more temperate City of Chicago, and received a complimentary flight status upgrade on the early morning flight.

The trip was already a Win/Win in my mind when yet another “Win” materialized as we approached 10k feet over the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. The flight attendant, smiling and pleasant, asked if I cared for the “breakfast plate/tray” of the day and with low expectations, hunger and hope, I said yes indeed!

Join ADPI® Center of Excellence (COE) team member Karen Smith as she shares her insights and opinions.  Whey powder prepared and stored under optimal conditions and in proper packaging can remain free flowing and without color change for 2 years. In commercial situations, however, whey powder can become dark brown and lumpy soon after manufacture. Maillard reaction and water uptake during storage largely are responsible. Understanding factors that influence product quality is necessary so that undesired changes can be delayed or eliminated. 
 

Join ADPI® Center of Excellence (COE) team member Karen Smith as she shares her insights and opinions on Water Uptake During Storage.

Loss of product quality often is a result of moisture uptake by powder resulting in chemical, physical and bacteriological changes.  Whey powders are hygroscopic and controlling the crystallization of lactose is the only way to reduce their hygroscopic nature.  Packaging that provides a greater barrier to moisture transmission reduces the ability of lactose that is in a hygroscopic form to obtain moisture.

Join ADPI® Center of Excellence (COE) team member Karen Smith as she shares her insights and knowledge on Powder Quality Changes During Storage.

Join ADPI® Center of Excellence (COE) team member Geoffrey Smithers, Ph.D., CFS, as he shares his knowledge on pasteurization to pressurization.  Thermal treatment of milk and other dairy products, using foundational technologies like pasteurization, has ensured the quality and safety of these products for human consumption over more than a century.  

A range of business drivers are bringing change to the infant formula industry. Market growth is slowing and repositioning of manufacturing activity is underway. Divestments and company reorganizations across the sector will result in significant change in the business landscape over next few years.  These factors together with competitive pressures among formula manufacturers will see the demand profile for protein and other ingredients evolve and change.

During ADPI’s October 2020 webinar, COE’s subject matter expert Dr. David Clark touched upon an emerging segment, which is growing at a 20% annual rate, and estimated to reach $1 billion by 2029, according to global player Nestlé.  We circled back for a follow up interview to get a clearer understanding of what drives this market and is it an opportunity for US and international suppliers of dairy ingredients?

The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin has named the month of May “Wisconsin Cheese Month”, so it is timely to commemorate this event with some cheese knowledge from our very own Center of Excellence member and longtime Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker, Terry Lensmire.  Though Wisconsin is considered the “Cheese State”, and the 4th largest producer of cheese in the world, we know it isn’t always easy to make every batch of cheese just perfect.  We all know that losses in cheese quality can translate into losses in sales. For this reason, we have Terry to discuss some potential defects that can occur in cheese and what to do about them. 
 

“Proteins from Milk “are a common denominator in many of the milk derivatives, liquid or dry in form, and today are highly sought after by consumers for their nutritional need-state portfolios. Proteins from milk are naturally “complete,” often imitated by non-dairy “want-to-be’s” who have to add and or fortify their products to get to where “proteins from milk” are naturally.

There are many folks today that shortsightedly judge the health of our dairy industry solely by fluid milk consumption, and that is both unfortunate and an increasingly inaccurate measure.

The American Dairy Products Institute would like to welcome the newly elected members and officers to the Board of Directors. These individuals were voted and approved upon during a special meeting of the ADPI Board of Directors this week. 

As product developers and their “marketing counterparts” of protein centric products vie for positioning, there seems to be three distinct approaches being used to try and engage with today’s consumers.

To survive and thrive, dairy industry trade association such as ADPI have to remain relevant to both members and customers....

ADPI President and CEO Blake Anderson provided an "inside prespective" in the February 2021 Dairy Foods Magazine
 

Over the last month, US dairy market fundamentals have turned more bullish as supply growth slows and a demand recovery gets closer. January milk production was less than expected, and cheese stocks didn’t grow much during the month. Government stimulus and dairy purchases remain a wild card.

It is often said, and hopefully most believe, that we are a nation of laws, and that we believe in and adhere to the “rule of law.”  Rules and Regulations are akin to laws in that they frame needed and expected behaviors of citizens who choose to live, work and successfully coexist in society. 

Ignorance of .... is different than Ignoring laws, or rules and regulations. Ignorance, the noun describes a condition i.e., the lack of knowledge or information. Ignoring, the verb, is a chosen action, i.e., refusing to take notice of or acknowledge, disregard intentionally. 

In our food and beverage industry, and the “dairy” segment of it, we have many extremely smart people. Smart people are generally well educated, but still can be ignorant in some ways. This ignorance, if existing, is easily remedied by education in learning and understanding the rules.