At the National Restaurant Association Show in May, consultancy CSSI/Connections projected that dairy will be the next food category to gain significant traction with GLP-1 users. Rachel Royster, director of strategic planning and innovation at CSSI/Connections, said that protein has already captured this audience, fiber is gaining momentum, and dairy might follow.
"GLP-1 users want quality products that taste good," Royster said. "Dairy is delivering on all fronts. Dairy foods are protein powerhouses. The calcium content provides a bone density shield, and fermented dairy delivers probiotics that restore gut balance and produce butyrate, a compound that boosts natural GLP-1 secretion."
Shift in dairy processing and value creation
The American dairy industry is moving beyond commodity production toward higher-value products and ingredients. Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, noted that the sector is "producing more nutritious products, creating more value from every pound of milk, investing in advanced technology and meeting growing consumer demand for high-quality protein and dairy ingredients here at home and around the world."
Idaho Milk Products exemplifies this shift. The company, founded in 2009, opened a new ice cream and powder blending facility in May with a $190 million investment aimed at converting milk into a wider range of finished products and ingredients. The facility handles customized blending solutions for both foodservice and retail customers.
CEO Daragh Maccabee said the expansion reflects a philosophy of adding value to agricultural commodities. "Every project, every decision, every action: we ask ourselves, 'will it add value to the milk and will it do it for the longer term,'" he said.
New texture and indulgence innovation
Dairy processors historically operated in narrow lanes: butter was butter, milk was milk. That boundary has dissolved. Different dairy formats are emerging as companies develop texture-driven and indulgence-focused products.
Ian O'Neil, director of consumer intelligence at Rubix Foods, said "nearly a third" of consumers, especially younger generations, are "increasingly drawn to creamy formats." He noted that creamy textures signal "indulgence, quality and nostalgia" to today's consumers, and that dairy is "uniquely positioned to deliver on comfort, crave-ability and functionality all at once."
Dairy remains a major focus across food product development because it "delivers at the intersection of comfort and function, offering familiarity and indulgence, while also supporting growing demand for benefits like protein, energy and gut health," O'Neil said.