Dairy Processing - July/August 2023 - 20

We want these
products to
succeed and
have created
an innovation
ecosystem for
support during
the competition
process and
beyond. "
John Talbot, California
Milk Advisory Board
KeHE; and many can now be found on the shelves
of retailers like Walmart, Safeway, Kroger, Amazon
and Whole Foods. "
CMAB doesn't make or sell products, but it
excels at connecting resources and understanding
the industry.
" Our team comes from the CPG, retail,
research, advertising and PR world. Our partner,
VentureFuel, lives in the world of innovation from
food to technology and everything in between, "
he said. " Through this combination, we can
provide market research and insights, access to
processors and co-packers, team mentorship
from experts in production, retail, sales and
marketing, as well as a network of startup and
innovation experts cultivated by CMAB staff and
the VentureFuel team. "
A WHOLE NEW WHEY
Dairy Farmers of America's (DFA) CoLAB
Accelerator is a 90-day, immersive program that
A BREAKTHROUGH FOR
In early 2023, Dairy Farmers of
America (DFA), in partnership with
Good Culture, Irvine, Calif., introduced
a breakthrough innovation
for milk.
DFA Dairy Brands R&D and Innovation
teams have been exploring
lactose-free, probiotic milk for several
years, especially as gut health
and interest in lactose-free milk
has continued to grow. The project
became especially relevant as the
COVID-19 pandemic accelerated
consumer demand for products
that can support immune health.
The new Good Culture Probiotic
Milk combines the taste and nutrition
of lactose-free milk with a
patented probiotic shown to help
support digestion and a healthy
immune system. Good Culture is
known for its portfolio of cultured
dairy products that use simple in20
JUL-AUG 2023 | DAIRYPROCESSING.COM
milk
gredients and support gut health.
Available in whole and 2% reduced
fat milk varieties, Good
Culture Probiotic Milk has an extended
shelf life and each 12 oz
serving provides 1 billion probiotic
cultures.
" When the opportunity arose
to introduce a new take on milk
with functional benefits, it was the
perfect fit for the Good Culture
brand and mission, " said Jesse
Merrill, chief executive officer at
Good Culture. " We brought the
same disruption to the cottage
cheese category in 2015 and remain
grounded in the belief that
human health and wellness starts
in the gut. "
In addition to making good-foryou,
gut-healthy products, Good
Culture is also committed to doing
what's good for animals and the
planet, Merrill said.
" We've been charting a course
to elevate the industry's standards
for pasture-raised dairy and our
partnership
with
Dairy Farmers
of America provides an opportunity
to create material change to
the food system, " he said. " We've
been working closely with DFA to
expand our pasture-raised dairy
mission. Together, we've launched
a pilot program called Path to Pasture
that offers regenerative agriculture
farming resources to DFA
farmer-owners. "
Merrill said the Path to Pasture
program is designed to help
farms adopt sustainable business
practices by offering technical
assistance, educational tools, soil
testing, funding options and other
services to develop customized
soil health and grazing plans.
accelerates and grows ag-tech startup businesses
through mentoring and educational programming.
Kansas City, Kan.-based DFA has partnered
with various start-ups across the dairy value chain
that provide valuable services to DFA's family
farm-owners, nutritious dairy-based products to
consumers or helpful insights to its business. DFA
has built long-lasting relationships with several
CoLAB start-ups through additional investment
and support.
Wheyward Spirit, Portland, Ore., is a missiondriven
alcohol company that takes excess
whey from the dairy industry and turns it into a
smoother, better-tasting and more sustainable
farm-to-flask spirit.
Wheyward Spirit was a part of DFA and
Sprint's CoLAB Accelerator in 2020.
" It was a great experience as the cohort was
a blended class with food tech, ag tech and true
tech solutions, " said Emily Darchuk, founder
and CEO of Wheyward Spirit. " Having a blended
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