Chr. Hansen Launches New Cottage Cheese Culture to Tap Into High Protein Trend

30 Oct 2015 --- Chr Hansen has launched a new cottage cheese starter culture, DVS, Fresco 1000NG, which increases production capacity for cottage cheese producers. The new product also helps producers tap into the current trend for high protein products. Where in the past, protein was associated with muscle building, consumers today see it as part of a healthy diet and as a source of sustained energy.

Cottage cheese, a low fat product with protein levels up to 20%, is often considered the original low fat, high protein product and with the launch of the DVS FRESCO 1000NG culture, manufacturers are in a better position than ever to take advantage of the protein boom.

When Chr. Hansen introduced the first generation of DVS FRESCO 1000 starter cultures back in 2006, it was a small revolution for cottage cheese producers. The cultures almost halved the set time and nearly doubled production capacity, without requiring any capital investments. With the launch of the next generation, the DVS FRESCO 1000NG culture, cottage cheese producers are in an even better position to tap into the high protein trend.

Pim Schuitemaker, Global Marketing Manager Cheese Cultures, says: “We know that a lot of cottage cheese producers want to take advantage of the protein trend but required capital investments often create a barrier. Our ‘old’ DVS FRESCO 1000 culture solved this by moving flexibility from machinery and stainless steel to ingredients, and the new DVS FRESCO 1000NG starter culture now provides further benefits which significantly increase production capacity.”

The new DVS FRESCO 1000NG culture ensures up to 5% faster set time and 50% less variation in set time, compared to the old DVS FRESCO 1000. This means that cottage cheese producers can further increase their production capacity by 5% without capital investments. Also, an increased number of O-strains (lactoccocus lactis) ensure more phage robustness.

Schuitemaker continues: “Through close interaction with our customers, we know that floating curds have previously been a common issue for those producing with open vats. We have alleviated this problem by using our patented Streptococcus thermophiles strains that are unable to convert urea into ammonia and gas, and thus won’t cause any floating curds. This makes DVS FRESCO 1000NG one of two starter cultures systems available that do not cause any floating curds, the other being the renowned DVS FRESCO 3000 series.”