Probiotics hit the cold brew coffee category

Brooklyn-based cold-pressed juice firm JÙS by Julie has scored an industry-first with the launch of a new cold brew coffee infused with probiotics in original and vanilla flavors.

The probiotic cold brew - which is on sale at the JÙS by Julie website ($8/16oz bottle) and at JÙS by Julie's stores in New York - joins a growing number of foods and beverages utilizing the ultra-resilient BC30 6086 probiotic strain from Ohio-based Ganeden, which is now working with firms in every category from tea to frozen yogurt.

Ganeden SVP Mike Bush said Ganeden was generating strong double-digit growth as more food and beverage manufacturers sought to incorporate BC30 into everything from HPP-treated fruit snacks such as Nomva to GT's Kombuchas and buttery spreads from Melt Organics.

"Products featuring BC30 generated revenues (retail sales) of more than $1bn in 2015, and globally more than 350 skus (stock keeping units) feature BC30," he told FoodNavigator-USA.

As BC30 can be boiled, baked, frozen, pasteurized, microwaved, high-pressure-processed and extruded and go on to survive stomach acid and move to the gut where it starts multiplying and proliferating, it has opened up a raft of food applications previously closed to probiotics, from hot tea and coffee to muffins, jam, soup, frozen yogurts and HPP-treated beverages, according to Bush, which says the strain has been shown to support immune health at 500 million CFUs (colony forming units) and digestive health at one billion CFUs.

Before they go to market, Ganeden conducts tests on the final products produced by its partners to ensure that they contain the level of BC30 claimed, rather than making assumptions about its resilience based on its performance in similar products, stressed Bush.