1. Discovering the business opportunity
The lactose free dairy market is growing globally, along with the general Free From and wellbeing trends. Free From claims are among the most dynamic claims in today’s food industry. The demand for lactose free dairy has grown consistently in recent years, together with growing awareness of lactose intolerance.
Crediton Dairy wanted to enter on this ever-growing market and create a good tasting lactose free milk product without the risk of a huge upfront investment.
2. Quick solution to success
By using the patented Valio FAST TRACK™ technology solution for lactose free milk, our client was able to start the production of lactose free milk in a very short period – without an immediate capital investment. We worked together with their dedicated team in technology transfer and analytical methods and shared our general go-to-market experience in this field. All this helped them reach their goals as fast as possible and strengthen their position as an innovative and highly efficient added value milk supplier.
But what exactly is Valio FAST TRACK™ technology solution?
Lactose intolerant or not, people are not willing to compromise on either flavor or nutrition. Valio’s technology was applied in 2001 to produce the world’s first truly lactose free milk drink. It contains less than 0,01 % lactose yet taste exactly like the regular milk.
Valio’s patented technology is the only fast solution to achieve this. It was made possible with the never-ending R&D of Valio, and now, we license this solution to dairy companies across the world.
As the name suggest, it truly is a fast track solution, capable of delivering a launch-ready product in less than a year without immediate capital investment.
How it was achieved
In 2017, with the help of Valio’s technical experts, the first trial was run in client’s production site. After this, the process steps were optimized to improve the efficiency and to verify a constantly good quality of lactose free milk. Thanks to the commitment and expertise of both the Crediton Dairy’s team and Valio experts, the finished product was ready for sale within a year.
3. Impressive results
The results were staggering: Crediton Dairy went from selling no lactose free milk in the first half of 2018 to selling an annualised run rate of 10 million litres/year by the end of 2019, with the business growing steadily. All this was achieved without a big capital investment or any readiness to produce lactose free milk before implementing Valio FAST TRACK™ technology solution.
Tim Smiddy, Managing Director of Crediton Dairy said: "Valio’s lactose free milk technology allowed us to enter the fast growing lactose free milk market quickly and without significant capital investment. The ability to produce great tasting lactose free milk that tastes just like fresh milk is the key to its success. Valio have been a fantastic partner in helping Crediton Dairy to develop our lactose free milk range for a successful UK market launch and the range continues to deliver significant growth."