Bioprotective cultures, shelf life stability and AI integration shape dairy innovation

30 Nov 2022 --- Dairy innovation trends have branched out to incorporate regional adaptations of consumer favorites, the deeper integration of artificial intelligence (AI), and texture and functionality playing an increasingly important role in the dairy arena. 

Shelf life stability is currently a dynamic area of innovation in conjunction with pre, pro and postbiotics. Meanwhile, the valorization of milk and whey streams has been pegged as core solutions to prevent food waste dumps.

Arla Food Ingredients, DSM, the US Dairy Export Council (USDEC), CP Kelco, Symrise and Volac speak to FoodIngredientsFirst to examine the benefits of cutting-edge ways to innovate with dairy. 

According to DSM, the dairy industry is projected to grow to US$1.13 billion by 2026. The company’s AI-powered Culture Co-Creation platform is pivotal in the current innovation environment. 

“We’re always looking at what’s next in dairy and dairy alternatives, and one of our more recent breakthroughs using artificial intelligence will be a launchpad for future innovations in the coming years,” says Ben Rutten, global business manager, milk & plant-based dairy alternatives at DSM.

 The AI-powered platform enabled the creation of the company’s first portfolio of all-in-one cultures for fermented milk products. “These five culture blends offer taste, texture and health benefits built in bioprotection. What makes this innovation so important is that it automates a lot of the lengthy and complicated culture curation process,” Rutten explains.Hybrid dairy products that mix nutritious milk with trendy, sustainable and healthy plant-based ingredients are gaining traction.

Innovation in bioprotective cultures and specialty ingredients
DSM has a range of label-friendly solutions such as cultures, enzymes and natural flavors for improved texture, taste and lactose reduction.

“Typically, dairy producers separately assess starter cultures for taste and texture properties, bioprotective cultures for shelf life properties and probiotic cultures that support health benefits,” continues Rutten.

“This was a lengthy process and also resulted in unintended interactions between cultures once combined in an application. For example, when combining bioprotective cultures with starter cultures, manufacturers often see increased post-acidification, which can negatively affect taste and texture properties.”

Arla Foods Ingredients pegs the two primary forms of innovation: use of specialty ingredients to improve taste, texture and functionality and the use of dairy and whey to provide nutrition benefits (e.g., high protein content). 

“Our Nutrilac protein solutions offer multiple functionalities in dairy, including improved taste, texture and stability and opportunities to improve nutritional value.” says Katrine Helene Fruergaard Holm, industry marketing manager, dairy and bakery, Arla Foods Ingredients.

The company recently launched a whey protein solution that allows the creation of fermented drinks that are both clear and high in protein which significantly minimizes cloudiness and sedimentation.

“It can create high-protein fermented beverages just as clear as alternatives without protein. Manufacturers can use it with thermophilic cultures for fermented drinks, or mesophilic cultures for kombucha-style beverages, both of which are high in probiotics,” says Fruergaard Holm.

In line with this trend, USDEC is innovating with whey ingredients that improve texture, enhance flavor and color, emulsify and stabilize, improve flow properties and dispersibility in dry mixes, and extend shelf life. 

“High solubility over a wide pH range makes whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate well-suited for sports beverage or meal replacement applications,” says USDEC’s Terri Rexroat, vice president of global ingredients marketing. “Water-binding capabilities make them ideal for processed meats, cakes, and bread,” 

“Since June, we have seen an ongoing resurgence in US whey shipments, which continues to fuel dairy exports. September marked the fourth straight month of double-digit year-over-year gains, as volume increased 18% to 58,117 metric tons,” says Rexroat.Shelf life stability has become an important factor in modern-day dairy innovation.

Bioactive whey and hybrid innovation
With the aging population, focus is on designing dairy products to support healthy living “since nutrition is one of the keys to reducing the risk of disease and improving the quality of life,” adds LooWee Chia, whey R&D scientist at Volac.

Volac is concentrating on research into bioactive whey, especially processes to preserve and retain biofunctionality and bioactivity.

“Whey protein contains numerous bioactive elements, which positively influence bone, neuromuscular, cognitive, immune, gut and metabolic health. These are important aspects of healthy aging,” Chia explains. 

Chia believes innovation in the industry is moving to reduce the environmental impact of dairy while retaining good quality protein, full digestibility and a neutral taste.

Symrise sees the next significant innovation in offering natural and healthier plant-based product solutions.

“At the moment, plant-based products benefit from a natural image of health and sustainability. As we have just started the journey, we can improve that by offering solutions that enable consumer-friendly labeling and ingredients,” says Laure Pelletier, senior marketing manager of dairy EAME, BU Sweet, food & beverage, taste, nutrition & health at Symrise.

She believes hybrid products (milk and plant-based) have a bright future as they mix nutritious milk with sustainable and healthy plant-based ingredients.

“I can see functional dairy products gaining momentum and entering all aspects of our life to support our mental and physical well-being going beyond the classic immunity and gut health benefits,” Pelletier explains.

Flavor profiles of the moment
Creating new flavors in dairy products is a booming segment of the market, playing into current consumer demand. Symrise has taken new flavor directions, such as mango habanero chili drawing inspiration from Latin America.

In addition, Symrise’s Sensory and Consumers Insights team has created a model that supports identifying the best vanilla profile for ice cream.

“Our patented technologies around taste balancing (e.g., symlife for sweetness balancing and off notes/taste masking) and plant protein understanding (Protiscan), to name a few give us a strong differentiation on the market,” explains Pelletier.

Symrise notices the most growth in dairy alternatives. The plant-based dairy alternative market is evolving fast, offering a diverse landscape of plant sources. The company’s fast screening sensory and analytical tools enable it to develop fit-for-purpose solutions quickly.

“We see (growth) especially in developed markets such as Western Europe (UK, France, Spain) the classic dairy segments such as fermented yogurt slowly decreasing over the year while all plant-based segments are expected to grow in ice cream, about 5.3% in plant-based fermented,” Pelletier outlines.

Regional product adaptations
CP Kelco’s marketing director of global strategic segments, Anne Sinha, says regional adaptations of dairy trends are impacting the health and wellness space along with texture and functionality characteristics such as high in protein and probiotics.Dairy companies are rapidly moving toward expanding organic and sustainable offerings.

“The regional adaptations of dairy trends are very interesting, a great example of knowing your market and delivering what local consumers want. We see development in cheese, including cheese lollipops and children’s snacks in China, and the large-scale manufacturing of traditional food products like salted buttermilk for convenience in India,” Sinha says.

According to DSM, the dairy alternative industry is booming and is predicted to expand by 12.5% between 2022 and 2030. Growth in the oat-based category is outpacing that of popular bases for plant-based dairy alternative drinks.

“While this is an exciting time for oat-based beverage manufacturers, some manufacturers find it tough to meet this heightened consumer demand. We created an easy-to-use enzyme solution that helps producers simplify their production processes and increase their capacity,” DSM’s Rutten outlines.

DelvoPlant Go enables producers to perform the liquefaction and saccharification process, breaking down the oat starches into glucose and maltose in one step. This allows for a shorter and simpler process and can reduce the overall hydrolysis time by up to 30%.

“The nutritional value of plant-based alternatives will be an important focus for innovation in the coming years. Dairy’s nutritional value is exceptionally high, whereas plant-based alternatives have historically suffered from a less complete nutrient profile,” Rutten outlines.

“We also see maturation potential in specific applications like oat drinks which are becoming more mainstream. Here, we are helping our customers with innovations that allow production simplification, efficiency gains and cost savings.”

Long shelf life dairy 
In addition to premium indulgence and protein enhancement, innovating to create long shelf life products is another opportunity gaining traction, according to CP Kelco.

“Shelf stability can be added to plant-based and dairy formulations,” says Sinha.

Ambient yogurt products are shelf stable for months and can help to reduce food waste significantly. Long-shelf life products are heat treated for safety and are less prone to contamination.

“Ambient” spoonable yogurt and ambient drinking yogurt also address consumer trends, including convenience for on-the-go families, protein snacking and gut health with postbiotics. 

“Ambient product innovations are valuable to manufacturers seeking to sell via e-commerce and in markets where cold chain distribution is not developed. Consumers appreciate the ability to store yogurt without worrying about refrigeration, too,” explains Sinha.

However, it can be challenging to stabilize acidic protein systems undergoing strong heat treatment to extend shelf life.

Depending on the company’s manufacturing process, adding stabilizers before or after fermentation can bring additional challenges. “For example, in beverages, the low pH often results in sedimentation problems due to the aggregation of proteins. A stabilizer such as Genu Pectin that protects protein can help,” explains Sinha.

Dairy innovation aligns with health and wellness trends, especially gut health and how it interconnects with immunity and overall well-being.

Sinha outlines: “As more studies emerge about the benefits of prebiotics, probiotics and now postbiotics, this will contribute to more dairy innovation and further development of long shelf life dairy products. Dairy is a great vehicle for biotics.”

Organic and sustainable dairy
Arla Foods Ingredients is moving in the direction of organic and sustainable. “In response to growing consumer demand, we’ve begun launching new organic lines. One of them is Nutrilac FO-7922 Organic – one of our first organic products – which is ideal for grilling cheeses, cheese patties for burgers, cheese sticks, cheese nuggets and cheeses for hot pot soup,” says Fruergaard Holm.

The product can also be used to create recombined dairy products that match the taste profile of fresh milk.

The company adopts an innovative approach to sustainability. For example, it constantly valorizes whey and milk streams through fractionation. It also reduces waste by upgrading the resulting third, fourth and fifth side streams for use in feed and energy production areas.

Symrise, on the other hand, prides itself on backward integration for its key ingredients. The company supports its farmers in Madagascar by ensuring they are not entirely reliant on the vanilla crop by diversifying income with complementary crops such as ginger or clove.

By Inga de Jong