Emerging brands active in Startup CPG’s free online community are leveraging the full flavor and mouthfeel of dairy to disrupt the frozen dessert case, the beverage category, the dips and spreads segment and more.
They also are bringing to market dairy products that are easier to digest and that deliver the macronutrients consumers want, while also rethinking production practices to create a more sustainable food system.
The permissible indulgence of dairy helps reinvent the freezer aisle
Dairy’s smooth, creamy texture paired with its natural sweetness and relatively neutral taste profile makes it an ideal base for indulgent delights – be they sweet treats, savory spreads or go-to ingredients to add richness to dishes.
For example, startup Pastazerts blends organic cream cheese with figs, peppermint, strawberries and graham crackers to create creamy fillings for a first-of-its-kind chocolate ravioli.
The inspiration for Pastazerts came to founder Stephanie Berwick when she was cooking competitively about a decade ago and needed to create a dish under the theme of pasta.
“[I] wanted something really extraordinary. The chocolate ravioli was born,” she told FoodNavigator-USA.
As a new product that breaks people’s pasta preconceptions, Berwick said Pastzerts needs to “be front and center with consumers – allowing them to taste chocolate ravioli” to help “break through that stigma of what traditional pasta had to be.”
Pastazerts are available in the freezer aisle of select stores, including independent grocers in New York City and Walmart Marketplace, as well as online at Etsy, Pinterest and the company’s website. The ravioli can be enjoyed straight out of the package, but Berwick says they are better warmed in the oven, air-fryer or on the stove.
Another “industry first,” is a CPG version of Idaho-based restaurant Fanci Freez’s soft-serve milkshakes, which were created with Pivot North Consulting.
“Since soft-serve can’t be frozen below 18F, it has historically been incompatible with retail freezer aisles,” which typically are kept between -3F and -6F, Gail Kurpgeweit, CEO of PNC Specialty Foods, told FoodNavigator-USA. “However, Fanci Freez and its broker/distributor, PNC Specialty Foods, developed patent-pending packaging that allows soft-serve to be frozen and brought back to soft-serve consistency in only a few seconds in the microwave.”
The packaging also is “gorgeous and grabs shopper attention, and its creamy deliciousness ensures the re-purchase by loyal fans of the brand,” she said, noting that for 63 consecutive weeks the product never fell below the fourth position in the competitive novelty ice cream set where it is sold in select Idaho-area Albertsons stores where it launched exclusively in June 2023. It will expand nationwide in the first quarter of 2025 at Albertsons and another major retailer.
TruJoy Yogurt’s Frozen Greek Yogurt also defies stereotypes of frozen desserts by delivering the same flavor, texture and eating experience of traditional ice cream but with “superior and functional nutrition with clean ingredients,” company Founder Charlie Gentry told FoodNavigator-USA.
He explained that each pint of the company’s Frozen Greek Yogurt is packed with 24 grams of protein, which called out on the rim of the package, and “gut nourishing” live and active probiotic cultures, which are backed by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Live & Active Cultures Seal, “so you really are getting the benefit of probiotic cultures.”
TruJoy Yogurt is available in seven flavors, with more to come, and can be found at Central Market, select Whole Foods Markets in Texas and Market Street.
“The company hopes to grow its distribution across the country in 2025 as it continues on its mission to make the world a happier and healthier place by making the healthy choice the easy one,” Gentry said.
Decadence beyond dessert: Savory shortcuts & elevated alternatives
The decadence of dairy isn’t restricted to dessert as illustrated by M.A.D. Foods’ Aux Délices des bois European style butters made with at least 82% butter and fresh herbs, aromatics and real truffles.
The compound butters are a “shortcut to flavor and mouthfeel,” and have “huge cross-merchandising potential” to be sold not only in the dairy aisle but also alongside seafood and meat, Amy Farges, the marketing and PR director for M.A.D. Foods, told FoodNavigator-USA.
She explained the butter are available in 3-ounce cups in the dairy case and 1-pound logs in the meat case. The retailer-friendly cartons ship frozen to extend shelf life.
Food With Roots sources the cheddar cheese for its pimento cheese from farmer-owned dairies in the Pacific Northwest.
“Our Pimento Cheese doesn’t use fillers (sour cream, cream cheese), but sticks to highlighting our main ingredient – the deliciously tangy, sharp cheddar cheese,” Founder Edouardo Jordan told FoodNavigator-USA.
He added the company also stands out as a “small, Black-owned, James Bear Award winning chef-driven company that shares soulful stories through food.”
Flavored milk for all ages
Dairy milk often it touted for helping build strong muscles and bones, and while most parents in the US serve it to their children daily they often experience push-back from picky-eaters. Likewise, the practice of drinking milk at most meals typically wanes with age – even though healthcare providers often recommend its benefits for maintaining bone density and muscle mass.
Two companies making it easier for children and adults to reap the benefits of milk by making it more convenient in single-serve packages and adding flavors – but without significant amounts of sugar – are Jubilee’s and Nurri.
Launching in January, Jubilee’s combines real fruit and vegetable juice and purees to dairy milk for a “better-for-you solution for parents of picky eaters wanting the nutrition of milk without the fight to drink it,” Founder Ashley Waldman told FoodNavigator-USA.
She notes that despite decadent dessert flavor profiles, like Chocolate Chip Cookie, Banana Cream Pie and Strawberry Shortcake, her milk has no added sugar and half the total sugar of conventional flavored milk brands.
“I’m focusing on the lunch box occasion by packaging the product in shelf stable, single-serving boxes in 12- and 6-packs,” Waldman said, adding that 70% of US parents which children 11 years and younger buy single-serve drinks weekly and 47% of parents buy flavored milk weekly.
Nurri’s recently launched Protein Milk Shakes are targeted at older consumers who still want the nutritional benefits of milk, but like youngsters also want a flavor profile they can enjoy.
The ultra-filtered milk shakes include 30 grams of protein but only 1 gram of sugar and 150 calories in each 11-ounce aluminum can. It leans on sucralose and monk fruit extract to deliver the sweetness most people associate with milk shakes.
The beverages are also lactose-free so they are “gentle on digestion for easier enjoyment,” according to the company.
Currently available exclusively in Costco, the brand plans to add vanilla and strawberry options soon, and expand into ice coffee and creamers with other retail partners.
A2 milk boosts RTD latte’s digestibility
Startup Laurel’s Coffee also leans on the indulgence of dairy to elevate the canned coffee category, which Founder Isabel Washington says has “over-indexed on convenience, and hasn’t innovated in a meaningful way to appeal to a new consumer.”
She explained to FoodNavigator-USA that her ready-to-drink canned lattes are the first made with 100% A2 dairy, which is a “scientifically gut-friendly form of dairy” and which she said she sources from Alexandre Family Farms – “the only regenerative certified A2 dairy farm in the country.”
The milk is paired with organic vanilla extract and Guatemalan coffee for a “modern take on a household favorite,” she said.
She added “as the world moves back towards consuming whole foods, including dairy in my product was essential, and doing it in a regenerative, sustainable, gut-friendly way was the only way that made sense to me.”
Startups support local, regional and sustainable operations
While dairy has long been held up for its health benefits for people, the same cannot be said for its impact on the environment or workers who help produce and manage its supply chains. But several companies active in Startup CPG are helping the ingredient chip away at negative perceptions of its environmental impact by supporting local, regional and more sustainable operations.
For example, Five Acre Farms’ mission is to “keep farmers farming through local food sourcing,” CEO Dan Horan told FoodNavigator-USA. It does this by sourcing and producing all of its products within 275 miles and by sourcing from farmers who use sustainable practices, for which it says it pays fairly and helps farmers tell their stories.
It offers local whole, reduced fat and low fat white milk, chocolate milk, buttermilk and plain, honey and maple whole milk kefir in addition to other products.
Nounós Creamery also is focused on creating Greek yogurt that is equally healthy for consumers and the planet with a mission to “revolutionize the yogurt industry by crafting authentic, nutritious products … using traditional techniques and environmentally friendly practices to produce our yogurts,” Founder John Belesis told FoodNavigator-USA.
He explained his company uses a proprietary cold-pressed straining process that yields a significantly higher concentration of probiotics per gram than other yogurts in the US market. It also packages its yogurt in glass containers that are “free from harmful chemicals,” and which “ensures that no unwanted substances interfere with the live and active probiotics.”
The glass packaging is also more environmentally friendly, he said.
Finally, Painterland Sisters is supporting farmers by highlighting the “vital role these stewards play in sustaining land, animals, the environment and society for generations to come” through storytelling and the sale of their organic skyr yogurt, Caroline Lallo, a PR strategist with NEAT: The Agency, told FoodNavigator-USA.
She noted the organic skyr yogurt they produce is “one of the most nutrient-dense yogurts on the market,” with high protein, low sugar and lactose-free. It is made by “sing a unique ultrafiltration process to create a dreamy double-cream Icelandic-style yogurt.”
She added: “This method, along with sourcing milk from their own organic farm as well as neighboring farms, makes it a standout innovation in the dairy industry.”
