Adding value to the dairy chain

The publication of the Tetra Pak Dairy Index always gives me pause for thought. There is always a bit in there where they suggest that UHT will expand. Now, that is true, as countries without efficient chill chains discover they can have their milk and drink it via UHT. Luckily for them, Tetra Pak makes UHT packaging machinery.

Tetra Pak also does an awful lot of good for emerging markets. Getting dairy hubs together, putting milk into the hands of countless schoolchildren, getting information and resources out to people who would otherwise not be able to produce and use and their own milk products. Basically, the company does well, but the dairies and countries also do well. It is a virtuous circle.

The index gives everyone a lot to talk about. One of the key items mentioned for developed nations is adding value to milk. Getting dairy to people who feel they don’t have time to ingest it, via adding cereal and fruit for breakfast drinks. These items are now on our shelves. And very handy they are. But there are many ways to add value, some of them more fun than others.

Perhaps my favourite added value item iof the moment is one that is fast becoming very popular here in the UK – Halloween-themed products. In a twist from the usual orange-chocolate milks and ice creams seen in the US, we have The Collective’s spiced pumpkin yogurt. According to the company, Halloween is now the biggest holiday in the UK after Easter and Christmas now. I am not crazy about Hallloween myself, despite being from the US. I was always the bah-humbug who hid behind the curtains ignoring the knocks. But I love pumpkin and so will be ambling along to my chill chain outlet for some of that pumpkin yogurt. Yum. And yes, I now do hand out sweets.