In the United States, Wisconsin Specialty Protein has added a shelf-stable, ready-to-drink whey protein beverage in two flavours.
The Fairtrade-certified dark chocolate and bourbon vanilla flavours both feature 26g of whey that originates from milk from grass-fed, artificial hormone-free Wisconsin cows. The protein sources are whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate and nonfat dry milk.
The chocolate flavour is made with Fairtrade-certified dark chocolate cocoa and each bottle contains 200 calories, 1g of fat and 18g of sugar. The vanilla variant is flavoured with bourbon vanilla and contains 180 calories, 16g of sugar and no fat.
Sugars are kept low by using organic stevia in combination with organic unrefined cane sugar.
The company has its origins in the late 2000s when it launched Tera’s Whey whey protein powders, developed to provide artisan cheesemakers an outlet for speciality whey. A few years ago, the company began working with The Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to develop the ready-to-drink concept. The company had previously worked with CDR to create a line of whey protein powders, which deliver 16–30g of protein per serving when reconstituted according to directions.
“We focus on Wisconsin producers, first and foremost,” said Julio Del Cioppo, director of sales and marketing. “We generally source our whey from cheesemakers that are within 200 miles of the plant in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, which is central to many artisan cheesemakers.”
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