Dairy Dialog podcast 38: Academy of Cheese and DuPont

We also have our weekly look at the global dairy markets with Charlie Hyland from INTL FCStone.

Academy of Cheese secures funding for Heritage Project

The Academy of Cheese, a UK organization promoting cheese knowledge and expertise in the UK, has secured funding to develop its Level 3 program of professional accreditation.

The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust has awarded £15,000 towards the Academy’s program, to be invested in a Heritage Project that will capture the unique traditions of 10 classic British cheeses – recording them for posterity.

Starting with Cheshire, the Academy intends to reach out to cheesemakers and farming families, to help record the social history of traditional British cheeses. The online record will ultimately incorporate historic photographs, documentation and audio-visual files of the people, places and equipment that have impacted the development of the UK’s most notable cheeses over the decades.

The information obtained from the project will form part of the online body of knowledge required to be studied for the Academy of Cheese’s Level 3 accreditation – the penultimate step to becoming a certified Master of Cheese.

Since its inception, the Academy’s overarching objective for the Heritage Project is to encourage the UK’s cheese sector to thrive by improving the general understanding of cheesemaker’s inherent qualities and allowing the resulting knowledge to be disseminated to cheesemongers and industry professionals. Through the Heritage Project, the Academy aims to share best practice and encourage sales of British cheeses in both the domestic and overseas markets by delivering a narrative about British artisan cheeses.

Charlie Turnbull, director of the Academy of Cheese, said, “The UK has an incredibly rich, diverse and fascinating dairy history that absolutely deserves to be preserved for future generations. Territorial cheese recipes have been handed down through farming dynasties – in some cases for centuries – but there is a risk of these intricacies being lost, forever. ​

“We firmly believe the Academy’s primary role is to share and spread knowledge to all lovers of cheese. Part of our responsibility involves preserving and maintaining an accurate archive of our collective food heritage which is why we’re so delighted to have received this generous funding from the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust.”​

To support the written record, the Academy is looking to capture the rapidly vanishing oral cheese traditions through interviews with farmers, cheesemakers, grocers and graders, as well as the communities who made and consumed British historic cheeses. To contribute to the project, contact puneyvr.gheaohyy@npnqrzlbspurrfr.bet​ or visit https://academyofcheese.org/heritage/​

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences insights reveal opportunities in plant-based dairy alternatives

Sales of plant-based dairy products, excluding milk, reached $697m, for the 52 weeks, ending June 2018, according to Nielsen data – an increase of 50% year over year. Non-dairy ice cream alternatives, as well as frozen desserts, and alternatives to yogurt, cheese, creamer, butter and dressing sales are included in these figures.

“The top driver for consumers of plant-based dairy products is health,”​ said Greg Paul, marketing leader, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences.

“Consumers believe plant-based is healthier for them, yet what they consider healthy varies widely and is often personal. Healthy may be defined simply as dairy avoidance because of an allergy or intolerance or it may mean sustainable, lower in fat or better for one’s overall well-being.”​

Analysis of more than 3m online conversations over a three-year period by MotiveQuest found that taste and flavor are consistently consumers’ most important criteria in dairy substitutes. Protein content, texture, sugar level and calories are other common discussion topics.

“Consumers are often disappointed in the labels on dairy alternative products because their expectations aren’t met,”​ Paul said.

“The labels are not jibing with what consumers expect with dairy-free products – which is natural and simple with high protein, low sugar and clean labels. There is significant opportunity in the market for brands to deliver dairy-free products with better nutritional profiles and cleaner labels.”​

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences has developed a range of plant-based product portfolio of protein ingredients, complementary systems for texture/stabilization, cultures, probiotics and food protection solutions it says can help plant-based dairy alternative brands achieve consumers’ health, taste and texture expectations.