Business innovation Reiter Dairy
SPRINGFIELD — Reiter Dairy wants its customers to have their chocolate and drink it, too — it claims its new chocolate milk is just as good, but better for you.
The Springfield dairy, at 1961 Commerce Circle, is one of 35 dairies across the country owned by Dallas-based Dean Foods that will be unveiling a new and healthier chocolate milk product.
TruMoo may look and taste the same, but it’s free of high fructose corn syrup, said Bill Riley, Reiter Dairy general manager. The product was piloted in locations across the country, and after substantial success, is being rolled out nationwide.
Chocolate milk made with corn syrup will no longer be produced. Any remaining on shelves now will be sold until that inventory is gone.
“Consumers are going that way now,” Riley said. “Over the last 10 years, there has been a gravitation from higher fat to lower fat products.”
The dairy will produce three versions of TruMoo — fat-free, low-fat and whole milk.
The low-fat with 1 percent butterfat and whole with 3.2 percent butterfat will be sold at retailers such as Walmart, Dollar General, Target and Speedway early this week. Consumers can also give the 1 percent version a try at Wendy’s. It’s an option with a kid’s meal.
Some area schools will be offering the fat-free chocolate milk this coming school year in preparation for a federal guideline that requires all flavored milk to be fat-free in 2012.
The fat-free product has 10 to 15 percent fewer calories and 15 to 20 percent less sugar than typical chocolate milk. Lactose, a natural sugar in milk, makes up half of the sugar and high fructose corn syrup was scrapped for sucrose, said Jamaison Schuler, a Reiter Dairy spokesman.
The Springfield City School District is one of the districts that decided to make the switch early. The change to TruMoo was in the best health interest of its students, said Chris Ashley, supervisor of food and nutrition.
“Chocolate milk is a very popular milk choice for our students,” Ashley said. “If we can make that choice healthier, with lower fat and sugar, then why not?”
Dairy officials said the public may not be able to tell a difference.
“There’s a lot of practice that goes into striking the right chord,” Schuler explained. “We just have to look at what’s the right milk, sugar and cocoa for the right flavor profile.”
Making sure the product did not turn out watery was particularly a challenge, he said.
“If it’s watery when you’re expecting indulgent, that could be a turn off,” he said.
Carrageenan, a natural thickening agent, gives it a “thicker mouth feel,” he explained.
But just don’t let the kids know — it’s a byproduct of seaweed.
Contact this reporter at achaffin@coxohio.com.
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