These days, a single dairy flavor doesn’t always cut it.  

Consumers are craving seasonings and blends that incorporate multiple dairy flavors. Move over sour cream & onion — new products are hitting store shelves and menus all the time that combine traditional dairy categories, like cheddar & sour cream and butter & cheese. 

These dairy blends align with many trends in consumer tastes and preferences. One key trend is around experiential eating. Innova identified “unexpected flavors” as a key element of one of its “Flavors – Wildly Inventive” 2025 trend. Food manufacturers can surprise and delight consumers with new experiences, including “fusion cuisines, cobranding, unusual formats, cross-category mashups, and limited editions.” New dairy blends, or new applications for trending dairy blends, is one way to do that.  

At the same time, the attributes of dairy seasonings can draw in consumers. Butter and cream are both known for richness of flavor. Combining the two in a single application points to an even more indulgent and dairy-forward flavor experience. 

Cost Management and Dairy Seasonings 

The demand for increased dairy flavors can introduce challenges for food manufacturers around sourcing and costs. Macroeconomic conditions are driving uncertainty around rising costs and surety of supply across industries, and food manufacturers are no exception.  

Many food scientists and R&D pros today are tasked with developing formulations that deliver on the brand promise and don’t compromise on taste – all while keeping costs as low as possible.   

Bluegrass Ingredients partners with customers all the time to leverage innovation and unique ingredient solutions to reduce costs without sacrificing flavor or other key product attributes. This culinary collaboration happens in the Agile Kitchen at Bluegrass, where we can utilize a range of dairy seasoning ingredients, culinary insights and savory flavor solutions to develop the right formulation at the right price point.  

Less Cheese with No Less Flavor 

Here’s an example that showcases the power of unique and innovative ingredient approaches in solving for cost and quality. The Agile Kitchen team was able to produce a cheese cracker formulation with no conventional cheese products. The required cheesy flavor was achieved through a cheese concentrate and adjusting the ratio of flour, water and shortening.  

It’s not hard to see how similar innovations could be achieved with a combination of dairy and culinary seasonings, and Bluegrass Ingredients has R&D and culinary resources and a broad portfolio of ingredient solutions that can be leveraged in developing cost-effective formulations.

Experts in Specialized Dairy Seasoning Blends 

At Bluegrass Ingredients, we know what it takes to craft craveable flavors and applications that satisfy consumer trends. We’re a US Domestic Supplier with minimal risk of tariffs impacting costs and prices. We’ve partnered with countless customers to identify, develop and refine products that deliver on flavor, form and function. From savory ice cream to creamy ramen, we’re developing unique twists on classic flavor combinations all the time.  

Our expertise and state-of-the-art capabilities allow us to undergo precise flavor matching and innovative product development without ever losing sight of each customer’s business goals.  

The Agile Kitchen in Action 

The Agile Kitchen is Bluegrass Ingredients’ incubator and R&D space for advancing flavor, form and function in ingredients and formulations.   

Here are a few of the recent applications we’ve developed that leverage our dairy seasoning portfolio: 

• Dry Cream Cheese Icing (just add water) 
• Dry Cake Dredge for sponge cakes 
• Spicy Cheese + Citrus Mac and Cheese 
• Citrus + Cheese + Dairy Ice Cream (savory and sweet) 
• Creamy Ramen 
• Vegan Bacon Ranch Dressing 
• Harissa Lime chips 
• Vegan Mac & Cheese 

The Bluegrass Ingredients Seasoning Library 

Bluegrass Ingredients has a wide range of dairy and culinary seasonings. We also collaborate with customers to develop unique and custom dairy-based seasoning blends to meet their specific production needs and business goals.

• Buffalo Cheddar Seasoning
• Cheddar Cheese Popcorn Seasoning
• Cheddar Jack Seasoning
• Cheddar Jalapeno Seasoning
• Cheddar Sour Cream Seasoning
• Cheese Seasoning (extruded)
• Spicy Hot Nacho Cheese Seasoning
• Nacho Cheese Seasoning
• Nacho Cheese Seasoning (Clean-label)
• Creamy Dill Seasoning
• Ranch Seasoning
• Sour Cream & Onion Seasoning
• Scorching Tropical Blast Seasoning
• Vegan Mac Seasoning
• Cheesy Stout Pickle Seasoning
• Cheesy Black Pepper Seasoning 

Contact us today to get started!

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