New yoghurt cultures meet demand for a mild taste

Following their success in China, the Middle East and North Africa, the ingredients supplier said its Yo-Mix cultures are being launched globally

Danisco said that consumers still demand the same mild yoghurt in countries such as Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and South America but that storage conditions in these regions can cause problems.

The “less than optimal” conditions, in which cold storage and cold chains aren't sufficiently controlled and are often broken, can make it difficult to maintain a mild taste in yoghurt products because of resulting acidification.

“This has been seen as a major issue all over the world for yoghurt producers, as the yoghurt will have a different sensory profile at the beginning and end of the shelf life,”​ said the company.

The new Yo-Mix cultures from Danisco, which were originally launched several months ago in China, aim to tackle the problem by ensuring only mild acidification during storage.

Sonia Huppert, Yo-Mix global business director Huppert said the plans for expansion into different countries were progressing very well.

Huppert told DairyReporter.com: “This is a global launch and we will cover almost all countries worldwide as we are present in most of these markets today. Western and Eastern Europe is a target, in addition to the Middle East where we already have had a great success with those cultures.”​

Challenges​

The starters contain the species Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Huppert said the cultures are available in a freeze dried format which allows for quick, easy, secure distribution in developing / emerging countries, “which proves invaluable for importers and exporters.”​

The global business director said the selection and formulation of starters for yoghurt applications was a challenge in even the most accurate strains when trying to meet the demands of the market.

“This requires a high level of expertise in microbiology, process and understanding of the yoghurt market which Danisco as an organisation can leverage,”​ she said.

Danisco cultures expansion ​

In November last year Danisco continued the expansion of its cultures capacity with the opening of modernised and enlarged facilities in Epernon, allowing it to reduce response times for direct vat inoculation (DVI) - cultures which are designed to kill bacteria – and consequently slow the production process.

The company is in the midst of a three-year, €60m plan to expand its cultures capacity in the US and Europe by 2,000 tonnes by 2012, in order to maintain the high growth momentum of the business.

In full year 2009/10, cultures accounted for 15 per cent of group revenue, coming in at DKK 2.1m – up 7 per cent year-on-year.