Arla Foods Ingredients upcycles dairy waste for “drinkable yogurt” and high-protein cheese

03 Jun 2024 --- The EU produced 160 million metric tons of raw milk in 2022 and the export-led demand for milk will escalate in the coming years, Eurostat figures indicate. This adds to the pressing global dairy waste issue, which Arla Foods Ingredients is addressing with upcycling concepts, along with meeting the growing demand for protein-rich foods.

Each liter of milk production process generates about 2.5 liters of wastewater, which further exacerbates the sector’s environmental impact.

Dairy processing by-products include whey, milk and whey permeates and contaminants from the washing tanks, trucks and equipment. Moreover, milk loss in wastewater is around 0.5–2.5% of processed milk, but may go up to 3–4%.

Claus Andersen, senior category manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, observes that the dairy industry grapples with the challenge of extracting the “full potential” of the raw material — milk.

“All the milk that comes to the dairies also goes to the consumers and the use today is not 100%, as you have a lot of acid whey coming from dairy product separation processes,” he tells Food Ingredients First.

Dairy industry is a major contributor to environmental waste, producing 2.5 liters of wastewater per liter of milk produced.“Pomade, cheese cut-offs and fresh dairy products such as yogurt, are quite a substantial part of that, which because of the short shelf life don’t reach the consumers and are sent back from the supermarkets or considered waste.”

Not waste, but “by-streams”
Andersen considers the term dairy waste a misnomer since it is a useful raw material generated from dairy processing and prefers to call them “by-streams.”  

“Waste is actually quite negative; ‘by stream’ is more open. Over the years, we have launched different solutions and campaigns on how to tackle this, where we have both solutions to avoid the acid whey by streams, which we call our high yield concepts, which goes for both cheese products and fresh dairy products.”

Arla Foods Ingredients is also working on a new concept it will unveil later this year, addressing the issue of recycling and upcycling the acid whey into nutritious dairy products, he reveals.

The formulations are expected to contain more than 80% acid whey. “We have a high protein claim on all of them.”

Leveraging “sweet whey”
The company recently shifted its focus to Latin America, where consumers increasingly lean toward sustainability. 

“Over 50% of consumers in the region say they have changed their behaviors based on environmental concerns, a figure projected to reach 70% by 2025,” highlights the company.

More than four in ten (44%) say they have “already stopped” buying products due to their environmental impact.

The ingredient formulator utilized upcycled acid or “sweet whey” to launch a fermented beverage concept in the country. The drink contains Nutrilac whey proteins, which provide a “light texture and refreshing taste,” and up to 8% protein. A 200 ml bottle contains approximately 16 g of protein.

We spoke with Claus regarding the company's dairy waste upcycling efforts and fermented beverage.The recipe includes “50% to 80% of acid whey plus some cream,” Andersen tells us. The drink also contains some proteins that can withstand the “lower pH” from the acid whey during the processing without flocculating — a beverage defect scientists call the “acid beverage floc problem.”  

The proteins also prevent bad taste and texture in the fermented beverage, which the company claims can be manufactured on standard yogurt lines with “minimal investment.”  

“High-protein wave”
F&B formulators are also realizing the value of upcycled whey as a protein source in formulations. Some 42% of consumers globally consider protein as the most important ingredient, Innova Market Insights’ data indicates.

Andersen says: “What has happened in the last five years in all dairy markets globally, is a wave that I think we have not seen before in the dairy industry. The high protein concept is really all over the place.”

“We know it from yogurts and cottage cheese and now from cheese products,” he continues.

He further shines light on the challenges associated with developing high-protein fermented drinks.

“It is not easy to make a drinkable yogurt with just as much protein inside as you find in products like Greek yogurts, because the protein from nature makes the product very thick.”

However, formulating drinkable yogurts needs techniques like the Ultra High Temperature (UHT) treatment to create an ambient shelf stable desert, he explains.

Andersen also points to the consumer demand for cheeses with high protein content. He believes that while such products pose challenges for manufacturers, they also breed innovations.

The fermented beverage concept upcycles acid or sweet whey and contains 8% protein (Image credit: Arla Foods Ingredients).“The right ingredients can give a cheese product a major nutrition boost, creating opportunities for health claims without sacrificing on taste or texture.”

What’s next?
While dairy innovators continue to explore new avenues in high-protein concepts and waste reduction, Andersen believes the trend has “not reached the top yet.”

“We will continue our efforts in developing our solutions and our ingredients for the high protein dairy portfolio, to go higher in protein for the producers to add more claims to the packages,” he reveals. 

The company also plans to explore whey protein and branched-chain amino acids in the future, because “this is what the consumers are looking for,” concludes Andersen.

Last month, the dairy business unveiled its high-protein beverage for nutrition-conscious gamers who want to boost gaming performance while maintaining good health. Each 310 ml can of the drink provides consumers with 15 g of protein.

By Insha Naureen