New Game-Changing Dairy Milk Drops
Is there a boomerang back to dairy-based milks? One farmer-owned cooperative is enticing consumers to the dairy case with a new product that doesn’t just compete against plant-based alternatives but stands on its own.
This month, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) launched Milk50 by the DairyPure brand. The ultra-filtered dairy milk contains 50 calories, 75% less sugar than fat-free skim milk and 9 grams of protein per serving. According to DFA, this is the first and only milk to achieve the breakthrough made possible by an ultra-filtration method.
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The timing for such a product was right, the developers say, given that consumers continue to shift their buying habits based on preferences and expectations. “First of all, consumers are seeking protein – more than 50% of consumer are actively looking for protein,” Rachel Kyllo, chief marketing officer of dairy brands at the Kansas City, Kan.-based DFA, told Progressive Grocer in a recent interview. “That became the core proposition – how do you take dairy milk and deliver only 50 calories?”
DFA’s consumer research also indicated that many people who were gravitating to plant-based milk alternatives missed dairy. “We found in subsequent research that for consumers who had left dairy and gone to plant-based products, there is some dissatisfaction from a taste standpoint. Also, there is this kind return to simple and real, as people are getting fatigued with highly processed products,” Kyllo noted. “So, we think there is an opportunity to leverage a product that tastes real and is also 50 calories.”
Users are getting a lot out of that 50-calorie-per-serving beverage that is an excellent source of calcium and a good source vitamin D and vitamin “The sugar content is two to three grams per serving and you also get nine grams of protein and it’s lactose free,” Kyllo added.
The Milk50 product launch is supported by a comprehensive marketing plan that includes video, digital and social media elements with messaging that welcomes customers back to dairy. “We have retailer shopper marketing programs, too,” added Kyllo.
Even as product is starting to hit store shelves at select Walmart, Albertsons and Stater Bros. Markets stores in the western United States and at Target stores nationwide, Kyllo said that DFA hopes to add to the current 3 SKUs of 48-oz. bottles in original, vanilla and chocolate varieties. “We’re looking at different sizes to meet usage occasions for consumers,” she told Progressive Grocer.
