DMK Group addressing consumer concerns with less sugar in Milram products
Matthias Rensch, who is responsible for the brand business within the DMK Group, said, “At DMK, we develop new concepts and products that meet consumers’ needs and help them lead a balanced life. As a leading food manufacturer, we focus on customer-oriented approach in order to offer dairy products that consumers are looking for on the refrigerated shelves.”
With 8.1bn kg of processed milk, the DMK Group is one of the largest suppliers to the food retail industry in Germany.
New products
The newly introduced products, Milram Buttermilch Drink Grapefruit-Aronia (buttermilk with grapefruit and aronia - also known as black chokeberry) and Milram Buttermilch Drink Johannisbeere-Granatapfel (buttermilk with currant and pomegranate), contain comparatively little sugar.
The same applies to the new Milram Feine Quarkcreme (fine quark cream) in raspberry, tangerine and mango flavors. The Milram Skyr Drinks focus on “a lot of protein and little fat.”
In the future, Milram will also use less sugar in its existing products.
Rensch said, “This year and next year, we will gradually reduce the added sugar so that consumers can get used to having less sugar. This is very important: We compensate for the lower sugar content not with sweeteners or sweetener-based aromas, but with milk and yogurt.
“After all, the brand represents natural, genuine enjoyment. Apart from this, consumers are increasingly interested in a shorter list of ingredients. Clean and clear labels are a big topic.”
Three phases
The changes will be carried out in three steps. Initially, the brand will focus on buttermilk and kefir drinks as well as fine quark cream. The second series of changes will be to sweet products such as Milram dessert sauce with vanilla flavor. This will be followed by the remaining products to which sugar is added.
As with food retail products, the sugar content of the MILRAM Food-Service assortment is gradually being reduced. DMK Group said as it supplies dairy products to the catering trade, it should take a responsible role in reducing sugar in that sector.
The first products with reduced sugar and fat were launched this spring with the new Skyr desserts. When adapting existing recipes, it is important to retain the tried-and-tested taste and functional properties, DMK said.
Sugar is not only a flavor carrier, but also a texturizing agent, and Rensch said one of the important factors for chefs is consistency.
“Our Milram professional desserts – whether quark, yogurt, buttermilk or Skyr – stand out with their creamy texture in particular. This will not change in the future. Even with less sugar, the tried-and-tested quality remains intact.”
