Once a niche area, with few options and mostly coming from the top of the shelf, the free-from category has seen significant growth in recent years. Quick to respond to this rising trend, The World Dairy Innovation Awards introduced the best dairy product which is free from category for the first time this year and encouraged a great range of products that offer lower fat, salt, sugar and calories, and emphasises the naturalness inherent with being free from artificial additives and catering for consumers that require special diets due to allergies or food intolerances, without compromising taste or texture.
With weight control in mind, naturally healthy yogurts, yogurt drinks and functional protein snacks became yet more appealing with sugar and fat-free options: for instance, we had entries from Fair Cape Dairy’s Woolworths full-cream, sugar-free yogurt; Tine Biolas’ all natural functional drink with a smoothie like consistency and increased amount of fruit and berries; and Amul’s Slim ‘n’ Trim UHT milk, which contains low fat and no cholesterol or saturated fat.
Best free-from product
With the added unisex appeal in a rather women-oriented yogurt market, Dannon’s Oikos Triple Zero with zero added sugar, zero artificial additives and zero fat offers a creamy flavour and a touch of sweetness from a zero-calorie stevia sweetener.
Standing out among healthy, ready-to-go breakfast options, all organic Yoatz Oats+Yogurt is a combination of oats and whole milk yogurt which contains just enough sugar to avoid a post-breakfast sugar crash, while Friesland Campina’s Yazoo yogurt smoothie is a blend of yogurt, fruit and oats, entirely free from artificial sweeteners, colours and flavours.
In the ice cream arena, it is key to offer guilt-free indulgence beyond being functional. Derinice low-fat ice cream is a high protein dairy dessert, fortified with vitamins, milk protein, organic prebiotic fibre and fewer calories. It contains no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, while Papaphilippous & Patisserie Panayiotis is a 100% fat-free, all natural and no added sugar ice cream. Similarly, Hudsonville Creamery’s Hudsonville Naturals clean-label ice cream contains no hormones, artificial colours, flavours or corn syrups.
Piracanjuba’s lactose-free milk cream, sweetened condensed milk and dulche de leche dessert provides excellent options for lactose intolerant diets and can be used on their own or as ingredients, while Papaphilippou & Patisserie Panayiotis’ all natural cookies and cream introduces an indulgent, lactose-free ice-cream.
Sweet Rebellion ice cream from Taywell on the other hand takes free-from one step further and offers an all natural ice cream that is free from refined sugar, soy, lactose and gluten, with the added benefit of inulin and jaggery – ingredients that are known for their weight-reducing qualities.
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