June 2007 Archives
Chocolatey, crunchy tubes for milk-sippin' fun or the Froot Loops Cereal Straws for fruity, crunchy for milk-sippin' fun! These new products were the most searched grocery items last week on GroceryGuide.com.
So for those of you that have not tried this innovative product we at GroceryGuide.com decided to head to the grocery stores, buy some Kellogg's Cereal Straws and let the GroceryGuide staff try them. While the following would not qualify as quality research or focus group activity it at least represents the opinions of our staff.
The concept:
Everyone loved the novelty of the product. The serving size is 3 straws and most users had a hard time stopping at 3 straws. Kids are going to love Cereal Straws because they don't have to use a spoon to eat their cereal. Personal observation however is that most kids use their hands with Froot Loops anyway.
The taste:
The Cocoa Krispies Cereal Straws kind of reminded me of an indulgent Pepperidge Farms treat, Pirouette Rolled Wafers. Crisp wafer, rich, filling! Oh I better get back on point. They taste great and all testers agreed. Whether you use them to sip on a glass of milk or take your morning coffee, it just makes breakfast fun.
Overall our participants gave this one a solid thumbs up. Novel, tasty and nutritious at least for variety I think consumers young and old will agree it's something new for breakfast and they are delightful with a dish of ice cream or a cup of coffee.
Product information: Kellogg's Cereal Straws
Trademarks and image property of Kellogg's
Milk
There are more than 9,000,000 dairy cows spread across all 50 states.
Approximately 65,000 working dairy farms (99 percent of them family-owned) provide the U.S. and many other countries with billions of pounds of dairy products each year.
Starbucks uses 2% of the nation's milk in their growing coffee drink business.
PayDay Pro bars use 15 million pounds of milk annually.
Turn your glass of milk into a flavor with the new Sipahh milk flavoring straws. The milk is sucked through flavor beads and a filter to create a new taste when it reaches your mouth.
It takes more than 21 pounds of whole milk to make one pound of butter.
The natural yellow color of butter comes mainly from the beta-carotene found in the grass cows eat.
More than 1,000 new dairy products are introduced every year.
The largest share of milk products is sold through retail supermarkets, followed by dairy and convenience stores.
The percentage of milk sold in paper containers continues to decline, while 82% of milk was sold in plastic in 2001 (the latest data available).
The U.S. exports more than 9 percent of its milk production annually. (Solids basis, 2006)
It takes 3 to 3 1/2 cups of broccoli to equal the calcium in one cup of milk. Milk and dairy products are the most readily available sources of calcium, providing about 73 percent of the calcium in our food supply.
Culver's saw skyrocketing sales of both chocolate and white milk since the introduction of single serve milk in plastic bottles debuted in 2006.
One cow produces about 350,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
It takes all the milk from 330,000 cows each year to fill the fluid milk needs of Wal-Mart.
About 700,000 cows are needed to make all the dairy items sold through the Wal-Mart chain.
Cheese
People crave cheese more than any other food.
More than 10 pounds of milk go into one pound of cheese.
U.S. cheese consumption reached a new record high of 31.3 pounds per capita in 2005. Greeks eat the most cheese, an average of 54 pounds each year.
Cheddar is the most popular natural cheese in the U.S. (Cheddar accounts for 9.39 pounds per capita or 27 percent pound share.)
A cheese maker kneads mozzarella cheese with his hands, like a baker making bread, until he obtains a smooth, shiny paste, a strand of which he pulls out and lops off, forming the individual mozzarella.
The fastest growing flavor of cheese is Havarti with a 12.55 percent growth from 2004 to 2005.
Super Bowl Sunday rates as the No. 1 day for pizza consumption. Wednesday before Thanksgiving is in second place, using huge amounts of cheese.
The United States' largest importer of cheese is Mexico. (21,400 metric tons, about $65 million dollars.)
Cheese making dates back more than 4,000 years.
The concept of mozzarella sticks has its origins in the 14th century. A recipe for fried cheese sticks; referred to as pipefarces (which means stuffed straws) dated 1393 was found in a French work, entitled Le Me'nagier de Paris. These sticks were "Munster sticks" as opposed to Mozzarella sticks.
Travelers from Asia are believed to have brought the art of cheese making to Europe, improved by the monks of many European monasteries.
The Pilgrims included cheese in the supplies on board the Mayflower.
The first U.S. cheese factory was established in Oneida County, New York, in 1851.
The average buyer purchases cheese 15 times each year at retail.
More than one-third of all milk produced each year in the U.S. is used to manufacture cheese.
About 300 varieties of cheese are sold in the United States.
Enjoying steady growth in demand, Mozzarella is the dominant type of Italian cheese produced in the U.S. The fastest growing variety of cheese produced in the U.S. is Hispanic-style soft cheeses.
Ice Cream
It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.
Vanilla is America's favorite ice cream flavor.
Ice cream's origins go back as farm as the second century B.C. Historians estimate that ice cream evolved from flavoring frozen snow with fruit juices to what we now know as ice cream somewhere around the 16th century.
Until 1800, ice cream was a rare and exotic dessert when insulated icehouses were invented. Ice cream manufacturing then became an industry.
Federal regulations say that ice cream must have at least 10 percent milk fat. Gourmet or premium ice cream has at least 12 percent milk fat.
Ice cream lovers drive U.S. production to 1.6 billion gallons of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and other related products.
Two states; California and Indiana account for more than 22 percent of all the regular ice cream produced in the U.S. Other large ice cream producing states include Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Minnesota.
Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on a stick and ice cream bars were introduced in the 1920’s.
More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week
First Lady Dolly Madison created a sensation by serving ice cream as a dessert at an inaugural ball.
Foodservices
Approximately 40 percent of all cheese is served in the food service channel.
Domino's delivers nearly 1,000,000 pizzas each day, covering nine million miles each week in the U.S. alone (that’s 37.5 round trips to the moon every week!).
If all the cows it takes to produce Pizza Hut cheese stood end to end, they would span the distance between the international space station and Earth at its point closest to the planet (333 kilometers or 207 miles).
McDonald's uses approximately 4 million gallons of low fat vanilla yogurt each year in its Fruit'n Yogurt Parfait.
Moo River: a lake containing all the milk used annually to make Pizza Hut cheese would cover 1,130 acres at a depth of about one foot.
Calling all cows: it takes more cows to produce milk annually for Pizza Hut cheese (about 170,000) than there are people living in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Domino's delivers nearly 1,000,000 pizzas each day, covering nine million miles each week in the U.S. alone (that’s 37.5 round trips to the moon every week!)
Each man, woman and child in America eats an average of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year.
General
The 3-A-Day of Dairy logo is recognized by 74 percent of moms.
Celebrity Naomi Campbell launched the Milk Mustache campaign in November of 1994.
Americans love their yogurt, helping to drive a 7.1 percent increase this past year in yogurt production. (52 weeks ending 3/26/06)
Each year 77 percent of households purchase refrigerated yogurt. Drinkable yogurts are gaining in popularity; but, only 26 percent of households purchased yogurt drinks.
The History of June Dairy Month
June Dairy Month, an annual tradition developed to celebrate the dairy industry and its many contributions to our society, originated in 1937. During its first two years, 1937 and 1938, it was called National Milk Month and ran from June 10 to July 10. The 1937 event, sponsored by chain stores, was given the theme "Keep Youthful - Drink Milk." Originally supported by the National Dairy Council (NDC), June Dairy Month was established to help stabilize dairy demand during periods of peak production. To assist in that effort, NDC provided promotional materials to the 6,300 grocery stores participating.
"June Dairy Month" became the official title of the promotion in 1939 and focused on greater use of dairy products. Campaign material, prepared by NDC, was offered to producers, processors and dairy product distributors. June Dairy Month was initially funded by a one cent per pound butterfat assessment in June.
During the war years, less emphasis was placed on promotion, more on surviving the war. The retailers helped customers receive an adequate supply of dairy products and provided information to help use them properly.
After the war, efforts focused on resuming dairy product usage and regaining 'lost' butter sales. In 1947 the slogan was "30 Days for ADA in June." The goal was "Sales, not Surplus." By 1950, retailers, producers and processors all worked together to promote June Dairy Month.
In 1955 American Dairy Association (ADA) became the national leader for June Dairy Month campaigns. The emphasis changed to sales promotion programs for dairy products, and advertising and merchandising programs were added to an already-effective public relations program. The June promotion became a month-by-month merchandising event in which one or more foods made from milk were highlighted nationwide on a monthly basis. This advertising was visible evidence of dairy farmers' dollars at work.
June Dairy Month continued to evolve over the years and entire communities across the country, both rural and urban, have embraced it and have become involved in many ways. Some celebrate with dairy food demonstrations. In others, dairy princesses have distributed product samples at creameries, grocery stores, and local banks. Some rural communities sponsor cattle shows and princess contests with coronation ceremonies. One of the traditional highlights is a parade, featuring county and regional dairy princesses, town officials, floats and marching bands. Other activities include cow milking contests, cow visits at zoos, or banks offering free milk and ice cream cones.
The cooperation between farmers and other community members are really the basis of what June Dairy Month is all about - celebrating and using a wonderful product.
Here are some links to help you enjoy dairy products:
www.3aday.org Does your family consume the recommended three daily servings of dairy for stronger bones and healthy bodies? Visit and sign up for an e-newsletter with delicious recipes, helpful tips and more.
www.ilovecheese.com The place for cheese lovers, this site profiles different varieties of cheese and helps you pick which best suit your taste buds. It also offers recipes, the history of cheese and other "cheesy" facts.
www.2424milk.com The National Milk Mustache "got milk?" campaign is everywhere, and now you can catch up with your favorite milk-mustached celebrities! In addition, find tips and plans to help you lose weight with milk, a reduced-calorie diet and exercise. The site has step-by-step weekly instructions, customized meal templates, an online food journal, calorie calculators, localized fitness ideas, weekly motivational support and delicious ideas for getting more milk in your diet.
For Kids and Teachers
www.NutritionExplorations.org Learning about nutrition can be fun! Get tips for parents on fun ways to cook with kids, advice from nutrition experts, art contests and recommended reading. Also be sure to check out Milk: From Cow to You, which takes students step-by-step through the milk production process, from the farm to their home, and Thank Goodness for Cows, a workbook that is part of a complete 2nd grade lesson plan, Little Ds Nutrition Expedition.
www.cowsnus.com Ever wonder what it's like to work with cows? Kids in the dairy and beef industries share their personal experiences through stories, photos and video.
www.moomilk.com Take a virtual tour of milk from the cow to your table, play fun games, take the Moo Milk quiz, get tasty recipes and much more.
www.hilmarcheese.com/CowTour.cms From California's Hilmar Cheese comes this virtual tour of cheese production. Get an up-close view of every step of the process including manufacturing, recycling, packaging and sales.
www.3aday.org Recipes, learning opportunities and much more.
In many societies people enjoy eating the skin of the mango which happens to be rich in calcium,
and vitamin B6 others find it better to peel or cube the mango.
A trick I learned a few years back made preparation much easier for the table use of mangos is sometimes referred to it as "Hedge Hogging a Mango".
The website Simply Recipes has an excellent step-by-step article with photos to help you learn this great technique for preparing mangos.
Read more: Simply Recipes - How to Cut a Mango
