Dairy in the spy glass
by Gilla Brunt

Someone once said: “You do the best you know how – and when you know better, you do better.” This is as true in business as it is in life, and it is for this very reason that ongoing research and development is critical for the survival and growth of any industry sector.

Market and product research aids the development of wider and deeper product lines to capitalise on consumer spend, while research about the various aspects of the dairy business facilitates efficiency improvements and cost cutting without compromising on quality, which means that we can do more with less and for less – helping build businesses that not only last, but grow to the benefit of all.

Research in South Africa
Milk SA recently embarked on a programme to coordinate the various research projects relating to the dairy industry. The aim is to identify the research needs of both the primary and secondary industries and pair this with researchers and institutions that have the capacity to conduct the various studies.

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Results to note
by Gilla Brunt

The more we know about the properties of milk, the better we can use it to develop more and improved products that will add value to the lives of all our consumers – and the better we can market these products to those very same consumers by informing them of the benefits of including these in their diets. We are then no longer selling products, but rather health and wellbeing.

A number of international research studies have recently published interesting results relating to the health and nutritional aspects of milk and dairy foods. Here are just a few examples of interest to the South African dairy processing industry.

Ice-cream gets a health boost
Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada have found that ice-cream formulated with an emulsion that contains healthier unsaturated oils has the same melting properties as that made with saturated fats.

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