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Anuga 2007 attracted around 163,000 trade visitors from some 175 countries. These visitors were able to view the many products from the 6,607 exhibiting companies coming from 95 countries.

Once again Anuga Dairy hosted record numbers and dairy innovation was in Cologne to report on some of the dairy products on show.

‘Taste the Future’ was the theme for Anuga 2007 and Swiss dairy company Emmi had plenty to taste with numerous innovations. Following the growing trend for dairy products designed to give you a healthy skin, Emmi introduced Beauty Case sensitive yogurt with the Beauty Guard Complex. The nutrients in Emmi Beauty Guard Complex help to maintain natural skin moisture and elasticity and support the skin’s own cell protection.

Emmi has expanded Caffé Latte - its successful ice coffee line – with two new varieties - Caffé Latte Marocchino and Caffé Latte Caramello (below). In October 2007, Emmi launched Caffé Latte Trespresso in the US - an ice coffee made of natural milk and freshly brewed espresso and developed for the catering sector.

Seizing on the growing popularity of dark chocolate, the Swiss company has taken up this trend and developed a dark chocolate version of its Choco Latte.

Among its cheese offerings on show at Anuga, Emmi added two new products to its range of cave aged Kaltbach cheeses - traditional Swiss dishes Kaltbach Fondue and Kaltbach Raclette. It also presented its complete organic cheese line for the first time - including: Emmentaler, Le Gruyere, Appenzeller, Raclette, Cream-Tilsiter, Piz Bever extra and Piz Bever half fat. The well established Luzerner brand has a new product Yogudu, a semi hard sliceable cheese with yogurt, and with the demand for smaller and more practical cheese portions growing, Emmi now presents its classic cheeses in hand rolled form. * Bergader*

The demand for smaller cheese portions was also reflected by German dairy company Bergader, with its Bavaria mini Brie. Delivered in single variety cartons containing six items each at 150g, the range offers five different varieties - wild mushroom, garlic, pepper, yogurt and natural.

The company is also offering cheese aficionados two new varieties of its blue mould cheese. Bergader blu rich and creamy combines the taste of the “finest blue mould with pleasant sweetness and piquancy” while weight conscious gourmets who want to indulge, will be delighted with the Bergader blu reduced fat offering. * Valio*

Finland’s Valio was promoting its Zero Lactose range of products, among other innovations. Thanks to a patented method developed by Valio Finland in collaboration with Tetra Pak, all the lactose is extracted from the milk using non-chemical methods. This lactose free technology is available for licensing worldwide and is being taken up in more and more countries. A range of lactose free dairy products - including milk, cream, butter and sliced, grated and cubed cheese - is available in Belgium and, at the time of the Anuga show, Estonia was the latest country where the Zero Lactose brand had made its appearance.

Valio’s Kidius Gefilus Magic two-tone cheese is putting the fun and variety into health and wellbeing for youngsters - a great way of giving children their daily dose of Lactobacillus GG (LGG). Made from mild Edam, the two colour process is claimed to be unique for cheese. A novel style of collectable package elements includes a resealable sticker on the back of the pack.

**Landfrisch

**Austrian dairy company Landfrisch, has introduced a hand rolled cream cheese - Rollino Wasabi (Japanese horseradish). Landfrisch Rollino is made of the best milk from the Austrian foothills and carefully rolled in herbs or spices. The cream cheese is distinguished by its mellow and creamy consistency, helping to make it a shining star on every cheese board. Wasabi, a typical seasoning in the Japanese cuisine, imparts an unmistakable spiciness to all dishes. Apparently you can tell genuine Wasabi by its typical light green colour. It is a type of horseradish that is difficult to cultivate and only grows well alongside flowing water. Wasabi harmonises with the mildness of Landfrisch Rollino and lends it a unique fresh taste.

**Milch-Union Hocheifel

**German dairy company Milch-Union Hocheifel - better known simply as MUH - was highlighting its Wintermilch. The product was tested last year and received high approval ratings among customers. It was now on general release for this year’s winter season and the dairy was confident it would gain listings. The milk is available in two flavours - baked apple and nut nougat - and tastes good served either hot or cold. Packed in 1 litre Tetra Pak cartons, the milk contains 1.5% fat.

Turm

A healthy option was also in the mind of another German company, Turm. It has launched a coffee creamer - a liquid coffee whitener that is based on skimmed milk with added vegetable fat. Turm claims the product is almost like real coffee cream but is low in fat, low in cholesterol and has a long shelf life.

Alpenmilch

Austrian dairy company Alpenmilch unveiled smart new packaging for its dessert yogurt range, available in coffee, coconut, mint chocolate and vanilla flavours.

Vivartia

Greek company Vivartia had a glittering array of products from its Dairy and Drinks Division on display on its stand. Catching the eye was Delta Dairy Connect, a complete range of dairy products consisting of milk, yogurt and yogurt drinks enriched with plant sterols. The range targets consumers who want to reduce their cholesterol levels. In the range are products that are calcium enriched (with 40% extra calcium), fat free products that are enriched with vitamins A, D and E, and products with 70% less lactose.

The daily active range of yogurts includes a fig and plum variety, to aid digestion, along with vanilla and muesli options.

Complet is a Greek strained yogurt that combines three types of milk, cow’s milk, anthogala (milk cream) and sheep’s milk - a combination that gives it a distinctively velvety and smooth texture and a rich flavour.

Advance is a complete range of milk and yogurt products, designed by scientists and nutritionists. Advance milk, suitable for children from 12 months and older, is made from high quality milk, and enriched with iron lactate - an absorbable form of iron, vitamins and minerals. The Advance yogurt range is suitable for infants of six months and older, because it contains a mild yogurt culture. Enriched with essential vitamins to promote growth, the range is unusual because it combines yogurt with fruit pulp, cereals or vegetables. Among the varieties available are plain, apple and banana, pear and apricot, farine lactee, 5 cereals and two brand new vegetable versions - potato, carrot and zucchini, and spinach, carrot and tomato. * Ecomel*

Dutch organic dairy company Ecomel displayed a range of goods under its Zuiver Zuivel and Groene koe brand names. Among the new look products from the Groene koe range were 1 litre packs of whole milk, semi skimmed milk, buttermilk, full fat yogurt, skimmed yogurt and vanilla yogurt. The Zuiver range of milk uses a marketing device that is growing in popularity and features some of its farmers and their families on the packaging.

Fromalp

Swiss company Fromalp has launched new style cheese slices ‘with a firm bite’, according to the marketing literature. The delicious Gourmet Slices , benefit from hundreds of years of cheese making tradition and are based on three of the most famous Swiss cheeses - Emmentaler AOC, Gruyère AOC and Appenzeller. The company says an innovative manufacturing process retains the characteristic taste of the respective cheese variety and results in the 3mm slices retaining a firm cheese consistency. The ready to serve Gourmet Slices are available in resealable 150g packs containing six slices and are ideal for sandwiches, cheeseburgers, for grilling over toast and for use in many other dishes.