New Protein Line Lowers Cost of Making Greek-Style Yogurt

A new protein line from Arla Foods Ingredients (Aarhus, Denmark) enables companies to produce Greek-style yogurt on existing, conventional yogurt machinery, cutting the cost of production.

Producing Greek-style yogurt usually requires specialized equipment and also results in low yields per kg of milk used, the firm says. It says these barriers to entry are often prohibitive for companies.

The Nutrilac protein range is designed for use in conjunction with the company’s Quick process, which is a manufacturing technique for Greek-style yogurt that eliminates the need for the whey separation step. This means companies do not need to purchase expensive separation equipment otherwise required to make Greek-style yogurt; they can simply use their existing yogurt-making machinery.

Additionally, the Quick process is said to dramatically reduce levels of wastage. It ensures that virtually all of the milk used in the manufacturing process ends up in the final product, the company says. By contrast, in traditional Greek yogurt making, two-thirds of the milk used is strained off as liquid whey and discarded, to leave only the solid curds.

Finally, Nutrilac can help companies boost protein content. Traditional Greek yogurts contain between 6-10% protein content. Greek-style yogurts usually fall short of that, at up to only 8% protein content. But the company says Nutrilac can boost protein levels in Greek-style yogurt to 10%.