Look to DMI for assistance in moving products from concept to market

Dairy, food and beverage manufacturers may partner with DMI on everything from new dairy technologies and applications to product troubleshooting and production scale-up. Web access to these programs and more from DMI is through www.dairyinfo.com or by calling 1-800-248-8829.

DMI innovation programs help dairy processors and food and beverage manufacturers grow by:

• supporting and spreading the word about cutting-edge research in nutrition and new and improved dairy products, processes and packaging.
• offering application, formulation and production assistance.
• providing the latest information on consumer trends and marketing.

DMI’s comprehensive technical support system features the services of applications labs, dairy research centers, and experts in research, technology, applications, nutrition and marketing.

Additional DMI business programs help companies market the dairy content of their products with the REAL® Seal and create and market U.S. dairy products and ingredients abroad:

• www.realseal.com. Dairy, food and beverage manufacturers may apply here for REAL® Seal certification to highlight on product packaging. The REAL® Seal may be featured on 'basic" dairy products that meet federal standards of identity or potentially on manufactured products that contain U.S.dairy. The REAL® Seal is one of the best recognized and most used symbols in the food and beverage industry—as well as among consumers.
• www.usdec.org. The U.S. Dairy Export Council® (USDEC) is a nonprofit independent membership organization that represents the interests of U.S. milk producers, dairy cooperatives, proprietary processors, export traders and industry suppliers. USDEC is committed to helping the dairy industry in the export arena by providing services that directly increase companies’ export sales or decrease their costs of doing business. USDEC members produce and export more than 85% of the $1 billion in U.S. dairy exports that ship annually.

Other DMI programs offer education and promotion activities targeted at consumers of dairy products and foods and beverages made with dairy ingredients.

• www.nationaldairycouncil.org. Consumers and nutrition and health experts can go here to discover the latest nutrition research results and other important information about dairy’s role in a healthy diet.
• www.ilovecheese.com. Cheese lovers get the scoop about cheese, including tasty recipes, current cheese trends and more, at this site.
• www.3aday.org. Browse this site for all the new 3-A-Day of DairyTM campaign information and materials, including recipes, an e-newsletter and other valuable nutrition education facts.
• www.nutritionexplorations.org. Parents, educators and school foodservice professionals can get useful tools and tips here to keep kids on the right track to healthy eating.

Another related site accessible through www.dairyinfo.com is for the dairy farmers who fund DMI:

• www.dairycheckoff.com. Here’s where dairy farmers learn how their 15 cent-per-hundredweight dairy checkoff investment works through dairy promotion, marketing and research programs. This site includes a link to state and regional organizations that also work to ensure the future success of dairy by building demand through integrated marketing, promotion, advertising, public relations, nutrition education and research programs.