Company: Whitehall Specialties

Website: www.whitehall-specialties.com

Ingredient Snapshot: With the cheese market exchange fluctuating wildly lately, Whitehall Specialties is introducing a new way for its industrial, food service and retail customers to control and reduce costs without sacrificing quality. CreamEase is a cost-stable dairy analogue alternative to traditional cream cheese that delivers on taste, color, and texture expectations. 

“This is an example of Whitehall Specialties (WSI) continuing innovation to leverage our industry-leading science and formulation knowledge,” comments President and CEO Steve Snyder. “Value is always a priority. There is considerable untapped potential for CreamEase because it’s easy to formulate in everything from cheesecake and sushi to schmears, dips, and spreads; it should be an easy reformulation tool.”

With CreamEase, WSI is confident it has resolved many of the issues historically related to analogue cream cheese alternatives. “The biggest hurdle is texture: the smoothness and mouthfeel. Most products in this category have a very grainy mouthfeel. It was a matter of finding the right ingredients and implementing the right proprietary process improvements to develop a product we were proud to introduce to our customers,” says WSI Vice President of Research and Development Lisa O’Donnell. 

She adds, “We were trying to create a flavor profile found in traditional cream cheese. Our customers and consumers will instantly recognize the key notes and clean finish of CreamEase’s flavor profile.” 

Getting the right color is also an achievement. Observes O’Donnell, “When you’re working with ingredients other than natural cheese, cream and milk, you must make sure you’re getting a clean white color. CreamEase is a bright white cream cheese alternative, which contributes to a positive consumer experience.” 

Americans enjoy cream cheese for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. CreamEase is available in many forms for many applications. 

• Blocks: “Our CreamEase blocks have a firm, meltable, easy-to-use texture,” says O’Donnell. Available in convenient 5-pound loaves for food service as well as 30-pound blocks for industrial uses, CreamEase is ideal for baking applications, specifically cheesecake. “It is kosher because most bakeries are kosher.”
• Spreadable: The rich, silky, spreadable version is decadent enough to use for bagel schmears, dips, spreads and toppings. “Available in 5-pound loaves, it also has the right consistency to be pumped, although that is not its intended purpose,” O’Donnell observes.

Both applications are cholesterol-free and trans fat-free in keeping with today’s nutritional guidelines, and have a 270-day shelf life. Their protein content is comparable to traditional cream cheese. Says O’Donnell, “We have received very positive responses from our customers after they’ve tested CreamEase for their applications.” 

“This is a huge opportunity for our customers to manage costs and grow their bottom line, a big priority for Whitehall Specialties in terms of how we work with customers. Whether you want to switch 100 percent to our product, or do a blend with a unique flavor profile, this product is one of the best values in the category.”