Butter Buds Inc. recently highlighted Milk Buds Plus, a concentrated dairy ingredient solution that helps food and beverage manufacturers mimic the taste of American-style chocolate. Milk Buds Plus serves up rich dairy taste, delivering a fatty mouthfeel and flavor masking, ideal for a variety of confectionery products, beverages, and bakery fillings. 

“Milk Buds Plus is made from real milk to optimize rich dairy taste and helps manufacturers enhance richness in formulations while delivering the full-bodied mouthfeel, taste and texture of dairy,” said Michael Ivey, national sales director, Butter Buds, Inc. “It has mild-medium milk middle notes with a lipolyzed milk finish to mimic the taste of American-style chocolate. The beauty of this ingredient solution is that it delivers the functionality of fresh milk, while masking off-flavors and rounding out harsh notes, to help manufacturers reduce the use of lipidized milk and cream. Milk Buds Plus is a versatile ingredient ideal for use in a variety of confectionery coatings, milk chocolate bars, beverages, and bakery fillings. It is crafted from real dairy to provide consumers with the true dairy taste and nutrition they want, yet contains virtually no fat, trans-fats, or cholesterol. Milk Buds Plus can also help to standardize dairy taste and is shelf-stable, requiring no refrigeration. Plus, the low application level means you can help your brand stand out with shoppers as a good value for their money.”

According to Mintel’s U.S. 2022 Chocolate Confectionery report, consumer demand for chocolate grew in 2020 and has since maintained its growth. The success of this category is likely due to increased snacking and consumption habits caused by more time spent at home, the need for stress relief and mood improvement, and the availability and convenience of chocolate. Additionally, the majority of consumers search for the indulgence and familiarity that American-style chocolate delivers when making their purchasing decisions.

Milk Buds Plus is water-soluble, making it easy to add to existing formulations. It requires low usage rates, with the recommended rate being 0.25% to 1.0%, so food and beverage manufacturers can reduce total ingredient costs, which will benefit the bottom line. Also, due to stable pricing compared to dairy commodities, Milk Buds Plus can help control costs and protect profit margins. 

“With Butter Buds’ real dairy, you get more than just authentic flavor,” added Ivey. “You also get real functionality, real cost savings and real speed to market. Our customer-focused R&D department and team of experienced food scientists at our state-of-art production facility in Racine, Wisconsin, develop customized solutions to meet the challenging needs of our customers. We are here to help ensure your next food or beverage delivers that rich dairy taste, with a full-bodied mouthfeel and ideal texture consumers want. Butter Buds is committed to consistently serving up high-quality ingredients to keep today’s consumers coming back for more.”

To learn more about Butter Buds’ concentrated dairy, non-dairy ingredients, and specialty flavors, visit bbuds.com/food-ingredients.