Is there a sexy cottage cheese?
This was the project that Jesse Merrill was aimed at when he sought to bring emotion to a category of groceries replaced. Not a decade later, the founder and CEO of Good Culture Cottage Cheese has not only rejected that the thesis, but has controlled believe a phenomenon and its attractiveness, which has a transparent forecast in the client’s trends such as the dairy ingredients of a Single Cenora Source.
By changing the negative lens that many people viewed cottage cheese through, and demonstrating how it’s an exceptional source of protein, consumers young and old are simply obsessed with cottage cheese in a way that hasn’t been seen in decades. Good Culture has now become the top-selling cottage cheese at grocery stores including Whole Foods Markets and just surpassed $200 million in sales this year.
Merrill did not like cottage cheese until his own cottage cheese company began. His first genuine advent was when his wife was pregnant and ate a lot. When he bought it in the store, he only saw marks inherited on the shelf: the same ones that have sat casually since he remembers. Haviar in the past worked in the food and beverage industry, can say that the category yearned for innovation. “’70s, and then fell completely,” says Merrill. USDA’s knowledge shows that an average American fed with 4. 6 pounds of cottage cheese consisting with the year in 1975, with a stable decrease until 2021, when less than 2 pounds fell for the first time.
The former VP of Marketing for Honest Tea, Merrill knew what it would take to build a brand for modern consumers. “You have to tell a story in a really compelling way and say it in a way that is going to resonate with the consumer so that they actually want to be a part of your tribe,” he says. He began to research the world of cottage cheese and felt he could meaningfully disrupt it. He came to realize that most cottage cheese consumers “were on a diet…kind of choking it down, but they didn’t enjoy the experience.”
He felt that presenting cottage cheese as yogurt was a way of disturbing cottage cheese. This includes serving in a single cup. Finding a coer was complicated because the maximum of them does not produce this format, Merrill said, but despite everything one discovered in the Wisconsin. “The idea that cottage cheese had the opportunity to expand at an explosive pace given the nutritional profile,” says Merrill. “They agreed that it was not presented in the right way. ” Good culture now has nine Coparckers throughout the country.
Merrill learned how to make cottage cheese and began creating sweets and savory versions in his own kitchen. Live, active cultures would be needed to separate the curd from the milk, then finely cut it to create many small protein milks, restricting the amount of cream added to make the product more homogeneous. “A lot of what you saw at the market was a giant company curd floating in a pond of cream,” he said. The savory types were in the middle of this early stage, you would feast on ingredients like sriracha, salt and pepper, pesto and olives.
Good harvests introduced in 2015 in the Sprouts farmers markets and the Wholeow Sopac food market region. In addition to an original variety, the initial diversity of smart culture included Kalamata Olive, sun -dried tomato, Aca Chia strawberry and Acai Chia crank. Idea The flavors knew incredible and felt that there was a hole in the market for a tasty cottage cheese, in the end pull the tasty because they were not promoting well enough. “Consumers perceived them as a decline,” he says. “I was disappointed . . . but you have to pay attention to your consumer. “
Good Culture has since released a large lineup, including the multi-serve 16 oz containers, which have since become the largest sector of its business. Consumers have consistency options too–from 6% double cream, whole milk, low-fat, and lactose-free, all of which have pillowy curds and are an airy yet politely creamy experience.
In 2015, a dairy product like cottage cheese wouldn’t be considered a new blockbuster product because consumers largely switched to plant-based dairy, but it was a threat Merrill was willing to take. “We continue to that other other people would go back to genuine food,” he says. The early years of the smart crop business saw steady growth. “Going back to 2017 is when we started to move more broadly into traditional retail and saw some really healthy jumps in the year. Sales growth with the whole year. “
Good Culture ice cream
But in March 2023, the company exploded when a tiktok video of an author incorporating clever culture into a recipe for ice cream has gone viral. “It’s spread like wildfires,” Merrill recalls. This guy started this whole movement, the use of cottage cheese in a really artistic way. “The company tells me it predicted 35% expansion that year, but ended up with 80%. In 2023, the amount of cottage cheese eaten through the average American began to climb for the first time since the USDA collected knowledge. Knowledge has not yet been available for 2024.
It is probably not an occasion when the video became viral when he did, however, years of slowingly clinging to the behavior that import the maximum for consumers. As Nicole West, leader of global categories for dairy in Whole Foods Market, tells me: “Much of what we have noticed in the last year is a concentrate on single source elements. A heavy concentrate in obtaining proteins from this element of this element A single source.
For the first time in years, plant-based milk alternatives are down this year, according to Nielsen IQ data. Sales of almond milk, in particular, are down 7.4% from last year.
Artistic recipes have helped consumers perceive that cottage cheese is a protein power. 16 oz. Intelligent vintage milk crop container includes 56 grams of proteins. Creators get artistic by adding it to pieces such as cakes, pasta sauce, eggs, milkshakes and sandwiches. They also explain to their audience why it is so healthy. “The protein story, the blank label story and the taste delight here,” said Merrill. People are increasingly looking for high quality proteins that are more bioavailable. You get high quality total proteins of products such as dairy.
Intelligent culture is not only a booming brand, but has caused resurgence throughout the category of cottage cheese. “They were one of the leaders to bring consumers back to the side of the dairy products,” says West. “If you were not a fog fan before, I think the correct culture had a way of bringing new consumers. He simply had another texture that would no longer polarize . . . He is no longer his grandmother’s cottage cheese.
While the boom occured in 2023, 2024 was the year that proved that Good Culture cottage cheese has staying power. According to SPINS multi-outlet data ending the week of November 3, 2024, the cottage cheese category has grown nearly 16% compared to the previous year. Good Culture has doubled its revenue from $100 million in 2023 nearly two years after it began going viral.
A spread of Good Culture cottage cheese
Responsible sourcing is sexy. Merrill knew that any company he built would require a mission around sustainability. “Our mission is to reinvent the food system from the actual ground up,” he says. All of the farms that Good Culture sources its milk from are family-owned farms.
Some of these farms are also regenerative farms, which play in the good components of culture with the dairy producers of America, the largest dairy cooperative in the country. Together, they evolved a program called Path To Pasteure, which is to attend farms to move from traditional agriculture to regenerative agriculture. “We know that dairy products are components of the solution to climatic disorders and assistance feed a global developing population,” said Jackie Klippenstein, the main vice president and head of relations with relations with American dairy products. “The sustainable components, such as this, offer our farmers the opportunity to obtain monetary for sustainable investments that make on their farms. “
Since 2019, the program has pointed to its efforts on farms in Kentucky, which affects more than 2,800 cows in 1,700 acres of land. Update even until this far one has not been a simple feat, which reflects the difficulty of expanding the number of regenerative farms. “Those small circle farms are doing everything possible to maintain lighting accessories. Then, when it communicates With a farmer who has been doing something safely for decades, and comes anything that can result in less benefits. The transition to a regenerative formula can also attend to recruit more young farmers.
“Every time I meet a circle of relatives who run one of those farms, it continues to motivate me to do more of a more positive business. “Another way of saying that would be for Merrill to be personally and through their company creates a greater culture.
The appointment of Dairy Farmers of America has been updated.
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