Guest Columns

Perspective:
Dairy Trends

Three trends from CheeseExpo

Ryan Dykstra

Ryan Dykstra is processing customer manager for cheese and powder at Tetra Pak U.S. and Canada. He leads a team that works in close collaboration with some of the largest cheese and dairy powder brands in the world. He contributes this column exclusively for Cheese Market News®.

The beginning of the year is always an exciting time for the cheese industry, with so many conferences where we hear from experts from around the world and exchange ideas about industry trends, evolving customer preferences and technological advancements. After connecting with experts and hearing from valued customers at CheeseExpo, I want to share a few trending topics that have stood out to me this past week as well as several other conferences these past few months.

1. Health and wellness

While sometimes underemphasized, the importance of dairy, in terms of delivering healthy nutrition to consumers, should not be overlooked. It’s up to all of us who are involved in the supply chain to support this message and provide safe, healthy cheese to the end user. From production, transportation and processing facilities to ingredient suppliers and grocery stores, helping the consumer understand how cheese can fulfill the public’s need for safe and nutritious food is critical. Here are a few key ways companies can ensure they’re hitting the mark:

• Focus on food safety

First and foremost, health and wellness start with food safety. Utilizing the right technological checks and balances for your production can establish a consistent quality and ensure that finished products meet all the required standards and regulations. Avoiding cross contamination and cheese handling mishaps is an essential best practice.

Having a strong food safety policy can help a company achieve product traceability through the entire food processing and packaging value chain, which can protect public health, ensure compliance with regulations and contribute to the overall well-being of the consumer.

• Highlight nutrition

As more consumers prepare food at home, they are becoming increasingly conscious of their food choices and the impact on their health. While taste remains a primary concern, as cited by 48% of participants in a recent global Tetra Pak study, many also perceive cheese as a healthy snack option thanks to its high protein and calcium content. Cheese can be an important contributor to one’s nutritional profile. How are you marketing your cheese to consumers? Are you effectively highlighting its nutritional benefits?

2. Sustainability

Sustainability remains a key topic in our communities and therefore in our industry. Improved efficiency, technological advancements and innovative thinking will help our industry take the necessary steps to reduce our impact on the environment. Here are a few things to consider in your cheesemaking operations as it relates to sustainability:

• See the opportunities

Sustainability and operational efficiency can go hand in hand. Farms and processing plants that find ways to reclaim water, reuse cleaning chemicals and reduce landfill waste are also seeing great efficiency gains in their plants. But don’t forget about energy conservation. Waste heat recovery, use of heat pumps, and even solar or wind energy generation are other ways to save while also championing a sound sustainability plan.

• Establish transparency

Consumers are looking for brands to provide transparency across the whole supply and value chain. They want to know the carbon footprint of the products they choose. Innovations in food production and processing are great stories to tell. Many farms and processing facilities are pursuing these ideas already, so take advantage and let your plant efficiency improvements help boost your brand’s appeal in the marketplace.

3. Data analytics

The use of data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) is the future of the cheese industry. While the wealth of information that cheese facilities possess can seem overwhelming, that information is invaluable. Data-driven insights are crucial to adapting production to meet demands of higher output, improved efficiency and superior product quality. Here are a few suggestions for thoughtfully incorporating data analytics into your practice:

• Employ predictive solutions

Solutions and data-driven insights give you better control of production and quality parameters. Those insights allow you to stay on top of timely decision-making in order to meet everyday challenges as well as future demands. As you evolve into taking more advantage of this data, predictive modeling and AI can make these decisions even quicker, allowing you to make advancements in your product quality and plant efficiencies.

Especially with today’s changing landscape of consumers’ demands, data can be invaluable to helping processors stay ahead of the curve.

• Look for optimizations

While utilizing data can eliminate variations and ensure consistent and improved product quality, it also can support your plant’s sustainability goals and efficiency gains. There are likely many improvements “hidden” throughout your processing facility waiting to be uncovered. It might be obvious how data analytics can provide necessary insights to optimizing your cheese recipes, but what about the improvements to chemical and/or water usage in your CIP kitchens? Opportunities are all around you; the trick is to make the investment.

Those plants choosing to leverage the data that they possess are the plants that will be leading the industry into the future.

It’s clear that at CheeseExpo and other conferences this year, we have seen a large focus on the health and wellness of not only consumers, but also our planet, and how we as cheese industry professionals can utilize technology and digital transformation to produce nutritious food more sustainably. Remember — use technology — but don’t forget the human side of it. It’s a collaborative supply and value chain. A plant’s ability to trust its automation and utilize human understanding to tactfully apply impactful data are the next steps in advancing productivity, product quality and sustainability. Doing so can optimize how you run your business while also positively impacting the environment and consumer health.

CMN

The views expressed by CMN’s guest columnists are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheese Market News®.

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