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. 

The American Dairy Products Institute  announced today, the establishment of a scholarship in the name of Phillip Tong Ph.D., to be known as the Phillip Tong Educational Scholarship. “This annual scholarship endowed by ADPI, is in recognition of Dr. Tong’s contributions to the Training, Education and Development of people in the dairy industry and most recently within the scope of Dairy Science & Technology realm and the domain of ADPI member companies,” commented Blake Anderson, President and CEO of ADPI. “Training, Education and Development is a strategic precept for ADPI and this new scholarship, under Dr. Tong’s name, will ensure that his life’s work will continue to contribute to the success of our industry,” Anderson went on to say.

Innovation is defined as “the creation, development and implementation of new products, processes or services, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or one’s competitive advantage.”  It is also widely held as a self-evident truth that “innovation is crucial to the continuing success of any organization.”

We are in unprecedented times, as known and acknowledged by most folks inside and outside the DC beltway. This applies no matter the color of your party, or horizontal position - left, middle, or right on the sliding scale. 

ADPI^® is pleased to announce the addition of three subject matter experts to its iconic Center of Excellence resource group for members. - Terry Lensmire, Tom Suber and MaryAnne Drake, Ph.D.

ADPI® is pleased to announce that Kimberlee (K.J.) Burrington has joined ADPI’s full time staff as Director-Training, Education, and Technical Development with immediate effect.  

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse” … “Stupid is as stupid does” …... “Complacency kills.”

If we are not careful, and vigilant, these three “states of mind” will converge and what we’ll have is a prehistoric view of the world and a Darwinian approach to our continued evolution.

The American Dairy Products Institute wrapped up their 2020 virtual events with the completion of a very successful Dairy Ingredients Seminar.  The program, conducted virtually over three days hosted attracted 132 attendees from 9 countries and 23 states in the U.S.  

The New York State Dairy Promotion Order  awarded a $147,000 grant to The Strong Inside® (TSI) campaign, the digital marketing campaign dedicated to educating consumers about the importance of proteins from milk, as nutrients in milk, cheese and yogurt, condensed and concentrated milks, UF and microfiltered milks, and as dry ingredients (in milk powders, whey products, casein/ates, milk protein concentrates and isolates).  The proposal featured enhancements of the existing campaign which will help increase its reach and effectiveness, as well as incremental elements that will strategically target protein seekers in the State and the Northeast region.

ADPI^® is pleased to announce an exciting renewed Training, Education, and Development (T.E.D.) program for members and industry in 2021. We believe it is the first of its type to be virtually interactive spanning 9 months from February through October. ADPI’s Dairy Ingredients 360 Training Course program will encompass 3 different modules that build upon each other, and contain a total of 36 programmed hours of interactive L3™ content. Instructors will be subject matter experts from dairy science, commercial industry, academia, government agencies, and ADPI’s Center of Excellence. The sessions will be virtually interactive (live) and also recorded for playback to ensure registered attendees can stay on track despite the occasional schedule conflict that may crop up from time to time. 

ADPI^® is pleased to announce that Kimberlee (K.J.) Burrington will join ADPI’s staff as Director-Training, Education, and Technical Development and will commence her new role January 4, 2021.  “ADPI^® has a strategic precept and commitment to Training, Education and Development for its members and the broader dairy ingredients and related products industry, and having K.J. join our team will enable us to enhance and expand our efforts and actions in this key area going forward,” said Blake Anderson, ADPI’s President & CEO. “We’ll have more exciting news to share in this area as we get closer to the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, so stay tuned!”

It is nice to see the “Got Milk?^®” marketing and communication campaign reemerging and reenergized of late, even it did morph to balancing a glass of chocolate milk on one’s noggin’ whilst swimming a lap in a pool!  Pretty cool feat I must say and I’m told it was adhesive free and done on the first take!

This got me thinking about the iconic campaign, how popular it was in its heyday and how many milk mustaches we all saw on any number of celebrities during its lifespan.

Most businesses have a Plan A and a Plan B, and some even have a Plan C, albeit in many instances, it is a "paper exercise" that exists in a three-ring binder, and stuffed in the back of a "tick the box" file in offices and cubicles.

So what are Plans A, B, C , and why are most Plan C’s now....not fit for purpose?
 

History was made this week as the American Dairy Products Institute(ADPI) and the American Butter Institute (ABI) again joined forces to host their Joint Annual Conference, but unlike years past where over 1,000 registered attendees physically gather in Chicago to “Listen, Learn and Liaise” ^TM, at the event that has become known as “Where The Dairy Industry Does Business”^TM, this year registered attendees did so virtually through the use of technology.

Dairy ingredients and related products industry stakeholders from some 38 states in the US, and some 16 countries worldwide logged-in and logged-on to interactively participate in various informational sessions covering a myriad of topics across both challenges to and opportunities for the dairy industry now and into the future.
 

The American Dairy Products Institute is pleased to announce that they have selected two recipients for the 2020 Jim Page Memorial Scholarship. Hollie Maccabee of Twin Falls, Idaho and Claire Sipple of Denmark, Wisconsin where presented with $2,000 scholarships at the 2020 ADPI/ABI Joint Virtual Conference on Thursday, July 30th.

The American Dairy Products Institute would like to congratulate Milk Specialties Global as the recipient of the 2020 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 Dave Thomas as the 2020 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.