Healthy Dahi: India’s Milky Mist rolls out probiotic curd with immunity and digestion benefits
It contains the strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis (BB-12) which is supplied by ingredient manufacturer Chr. Hansen.
This is the company’s first foray into probiotic curd. Milky Mist has about 23 product categories and 170SKUs ranging from cheese, yoghurt, to curd.
Dr K Rathnam, chief executive officer at Milky Mist, told NutraIngredients-Asia the company first conceived the idea of the probiotic curd back in June, influenced by the rising interest among consumers for products that improve general health, wellness and immunity.
Probiotics as an ingredient has been gaining popularity for not only its gut health benefits, but in supporting the immune system.
The entire R&D took about 2.5 months, where Milky Mist was responsible for production, packaging, distribution and Chr. Hansen provided technical support and its BB-12 probiotic cultures.
The probiotic curd can be added to smoothies, salads, and other recipes. Every 100g of the product contains one billion live bacteria.
Probiotic strain and science
BB-12 has been tested in several clinical studies on its beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal and immune areas.
Mikkel Jungersen et al (2014) reported that BB-12 has been shown to improve bowel function, has a protective effect against diarrhoea, increases the body’s resistance to common respiratory infections as well as reduces the incidence of acute respiratory tract infections.
BB-12 has received a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) status by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Differentiation
According to Rathnam, Milky Mist is not the first company producing a probiotic dairy product in India, but believes its USP stems from the firm’s involvement across the product’s entire supply chain.
The company works with farmers who provide the raw material, operates its own processing plant, and uses its own high speed automatic packaging line and cold chain distribution.
In addition, most probiotic products are typically associated with yoghurt rather than curd.
Both curd and yoghurt manufacturing are similar since both are fermented from bacteria.
Generally, curds contain only one bacteria, while yoghurts contain a minimum of two strains (usually Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus).
Milky Mist’s probiotic curd is distributed in major cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi. Its sales channels are through departmental stores, and retails for around US$0.575 per 400g.
The company is hoping to distribute this new product into its existing markets, including Singapore, Dubai, and Sri Lanka.
