This is the next in our series of Supply Side Innovators featured in our Bake Twentyfive issue. Each weekday, we will spotlight a new Supply Side Innovator that can help you create the flavors, textures, and designs your customers will love.

One of the biggest challenges facing bakeries today is rising labor costs. To help address this problem, the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) offers high-quality, ready-made butter products with clean ingredients.

Plugrá Clarified Butter is a great example: It’s made with only butterfat, provides delicious, nutty flavor to pretzels and classic cookies like madeleines, and is ready to go when you need it, leaving your staff free to work on higher value tasks.

Bakeries and foodservice operators have always needed high quality ingredients. With just the right amount of butterfat and perfect plasticity, Plugrá was developed specifically for baking and pastry.

“What is changing is the demand for more and more transparency around food – starting with the desire to understand the what, where and how behind ingredient sourcing,” says Mihira Rami, director of brand marketing at Dairy Farmers of America.

Plugrá Butter is made by Dairy Farmers of America, a national dairy cooperative owned by family farmers across the United States. Through its Gold Standard Dairy Program, DFA supports environmentally friendly farming practices, superior animal care standards, and employee safety, among other important issues. “Our bakery customers don’t always know that Plugrá is made with American dairy and that its production meets such high standards,” Rami says. “We’re excited to spread that message so our bakery customers will know that Plugrá meets the demands of their operation and supports their values.”

If there is one thing a retail bakery always needs, it’s inspiration for their next great product, Rami says. “We love to bring trends, ideas, and recipes from cutting-edge chefs and share them with the bakery community via our website and social media channels, particularly Instagram.”

Looking ahead, the number of independent bakeries will continue to rise, Rami adds, as consumers seek to support local businesses and to look for more artisan baked goods.

Butter will need to deliver on high product quality demands for consistency, taste and texture so that retail bakeries can produce excellent products. “The industry will also begin to demand more convenient operator solutions that don’t compromise on quality and authenticity,” Rami says. “Plugrá is ready to meet these challenges head on and is well equipped to evolve with the changing needs of the industry. These predictions underpin our innovation plans. Just as we did in the 1980s when we developed Plugrá butter to meet the needs of pastry chefs, we want to be a partner to bakeries by providing high-quality butter products that ensure every day is a great baking day.”

Fast facts

Dairy Farmers of America’s R&D team includes some of the leading minds in dairy food science. DFA’s Ingredients Solutions team works hand-in-hand with operators to solve a wide variety of problems, whether that’s providing fermented dairy products to help make gluten-free baked goods taste more like the classic pastries consumers crave, or natural dairy flavors that heighten the taste of a cookie. Having these resources available broadens the horizon for what Plugrá Butter could offer to bakeries.