Tate & Lyle has collaborated with Long Life Dairy, a subsidiary of Unique Dairy, to create a range of long shelf life products in South Africa and enable more families with limited access to refrigeration to benefit from dairy.
Developed using Tate & Lyle’s stabilisers and functional systems, the new range of affordable yogurt-style dairy snacks, bottled milkshakes and custard pouches do not require refrigeration and are shelf stable for up to one year.
Tate & Lyle technical service teams in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lübeck, Germany, worked with Long Life Dairy’s development team to trial different recipe formulations.
Long Life Dairy trialled products in Tate & Lyle’s pilot plant in Germany before selecting final recipes to take into full-scale production at the manufacturer’s new facility in Pretoria.
“Many dairy products on sale in South Africa require cold storage and, although ambient shelf life milk and custard are widely available, there are few on-the-go dairy options for immediate consumption,” said Stefan Van der Berg, general manager of Long Life Dairy.
“Ambient dairy is an exciting new sub-category for our business and we are exploring opportunities to introduce the new range to consumers in other African regions.”
Neels Poerstamper, technical support manager South Africa, Tate & Lyle, added: “Using our innovative stabiliser ingredient blends, we are proud to have helped Long Life Dairy to create an innovative new product range that will help more families to enjoy the benefits of dairy, particularly those without access to cold storage.
“This product innovation demonstrates how, with customers, we are providing access to nutritious and affordable foods, and delivering on our purpose of ‘Improving Lives for Generations’. The packaging, price point and long shelf life make the range particularly attractive to South Africa’s many solo traders, allowing them to capitalise on resale opportunities.”
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