MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE DAIRY PRODUCTS YOU’LL BE CRAVING NEXT
You probably don’t think twice about the dairy products you pick up at the store. It’s about grabbing what you know you like. But sometimes something new catches your eye, and it goes in the cart.
Ever wonder what it took to get it there?
Behind every new dairy product you see — whether it’s a high-protein cottage cheese or a limited-time ice cream flavor — are teams working to get every detail right. It takes rounds of testing, problem-solving, and sometimes starting from scratch to make a dairy product worth putting on shelves.
What starts as an idea has to prove it can hold up in the real world — on production lines at manufacturing plants and for retailers (like your local grocer!) that expect consistency every time.
At Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), we’re a cooperative of family-owned dairy farms nourishing the world with dairy. We make many of the dairy products you know and love and dream up the ones you’ll be craving next.
There’s a long list of people who make every one of our farmer-owned dairy products possible, but here are a few of the key players behind every delicious development.
So, do I have a Food Scientist to thank for the cheese crackers in my pantry?
Yes, yes, you do. Using biology, chemistry, and engineering, a Food Scientist takes early ideas for dairy products and figures out if they actually work in the real world — like if a new cheese cracker flavor can taste just as good at home as it did in development.
About: If it sounds good, Food Scientists make sure it tastes good — and can be made the same way every time, down to exact time and temperature.
Super skill: Translating science speak to kitchen speak and then back again.
Why it matters: Ideas are good. But finished products that hit the mark are even better. Without Food Scientists, ideas might not ever hit the shelf. But with their smarts, tenacity, and patience, you get innovative dairy products that support family-owned dairy farms.
So, what does a Marketing Innovation Manager have to do with my grocery cart?
A Marketing Innovation Manager finds out what people want from dairy — and then helps turn it into real dairy products.
About: Marketing Innovation Managers look at trends, tastes, and what’s happening in the market (hello TikTok), and work with teams across DFA to bring new ideas to life. And they help make sure new products are the ones that people will be excited to come back to after the newness wears off.
Super skill: Sees every product as a learning opportunity, whether it’s a crowd favorite or doesn’t leave the test kitchen.
Why it matters: At DFA, we’re always looking for new ways to bring value to our farmer-owners. One way we do that is by finding new ways to get their high-quality milk into products you want to buy. The Marketing Innovation Manager is the one always asking, “What if we tried this?”
So, what does a Culinary Professional have to do with my latte?
About: Culinary Professionals use ingredients to build new and craveable creations — from lattes to flavored brown butter that makes a box of biscuits irresistible. They help shape products into something that delivers from the first impression. Because if it’s not something people crave, it doesn’t matter how good it sounds on paper.
Super skill: Can tell with one taste if a smoothie ratio is off. (More milk. Less ice.)
Why it matters: If you thought mastering Grandma’s recipes was a feat, try developing that recipe from a couple jotted down meeting notes. The Culinary Professionals at DFA don’t give up after one bad batch — they know that their job is the difference between a new product hitting shelves or staying in the vault.
TURNING FARMER-OWNED MILK INTO WHAT’S NEXT
There’s a lot of innovation behind every new product in the dairy case.
Whether it’s an ultra-filtered high-protein milk like Kemps® Protein+, or MULU™, which is redefining cottage cheese, every one of our new dairy products started as an idea, got trialed (and trialed and trialed and trialed), until it was packaged and ready for you to enjoy, thanks to innovation and research and development at DFA.
Find out which farmer-owned innovation is near you!!