Pour it On! Organic Valley Introduces Line of Drinkable Live Organic Yogurts Sweetened with Agave Nectar
National yogurt launch includes "Get Cultured" campaign for consumers, offering $500 grand prize and donations to Slow Food USA
Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,600 organic family farmers nationwide, is expanding their extensive line of healthy cultured dairy products with the launch of three organic Live Lowfat Yogurts.
The multi-use, "live" organic yogurt contains THRIVE™—Organic Valley's unique blend of 10 billion "good" probiotic cultures that boost digestive and immune systems, and are beneficial to overall health. Studies have found that probiotics may further improve nutrient bioavailability for B vitamins, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium and phosphorus, among others.
Yogurt is Organic Valley's most requested new item from consumers. The new 32-ounce bottles of delicious lowfat yogurt, available in plain, vanilla and berry flavors, are an excellent source of fiber and calcium, and each serving also contains two grams of organic inulin, a soluble fiber and a prebiotic derived from organic Jerusalem artichoke. While competitors commonly use cane sugar to sweeten yogurt, Organic Valley's vanilla and berry flavors are sweetened with agave nectar. In addition, the vanilla yogurt is made with Fair Trade vanilla, the berry yogurt bursts with the flavor of a whole berry puree, and the three yogurts have no added gums or stabilizers. In blind taste tests, Organic Valley's plain and vanilla yogurts were preferred 2:1 against a leading kefir brand.
"In creating our yogurt, our farmers wanted consumers to expand how they incorporate calcium-rich yogurt into their daily routines—think ‘Pour It, Drink It, Blend It,'" said Tripp Hughes, director of category management for Organic Valley. "Our bottled yogurt is ideal as an ingredient in salad dressings, smoothies or dips, mixed with granola for breakfast, or enjoyed straight from the bottle. No matter the preference, we hope people will find tasty ways to incorporate each smooth and creamy flavor as part of a healthy diet."
To kick off the national introduction of this new line, Organic Valley is holding a "Get Cultured" campaign and prize drawing for consumers. Starting April 1, 2010, shoppers can visit www.getcultured.com to learn about the health benefits and traditions surrounding the use of cultured dairy products. While there, they can find recipes and enter the Get Cultured prize drawing to win a $500 grand prize gift certificate to www.cooking.com, an online cookware retailer, one of five prizes of a year of free Organic Valley products, or one of 1,000 one-year e-memberships to their local Slow Food USA chapter, each a $60 value.
For each Get Cultured entry, Organic Valley will donate $1 to Slow Food USA, an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world in which everyone can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.
"Organic Valley's focus on sustainable farming and production practices aligns well with Slow Food USA's mission of driving a dramatic and lasting change in our food system to ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat," says Brian Sinderson, director of marketing and communications for Slow Food USA. "We look forward to working with them to promote the rich history of cultured dairy."
The campaign will run until June 30, 2010, and winners will be notified in late summer.
Organic Valley Family of Farms: Independent and Farmer-Owned
Organic Valley is America's largest cooperative of organic farmers and is one of the nation's leading organic brands. Organized in 1988, it represents 1,652 farmers in 33 states and four Canadian provinces, and achieved $520 million in 2009 sales. Focused on its founding mission of saving family farms through organic farming, Organic Valley produces a variety of organic foods, including organic milk, soy, cheese, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce and juice, which are sold in supermarkets, natural foods stores and food cooperatives nationwide. The same farmers who produce for Organic Valley also produce a full range of delicious organic meat under the Organic Prairie Family of Farms label. For further information, call 1-888-444-MILK or visit www.organicvalley.coop, www.organicprairie.coop and the cooperative's farmer website, www.farmers.coop. Organic Valley is also on Twitter @Organic_Valley and Facebook www.facebook.com/OrganicValley .
About Slow Food USA
Slow Food USA is a non-profit organization working to create a just and sustainable food system. Slow Food USA has 225 chapters, with more than 90,000 members and supporters in the United States, and is part of a larger 130-country international network. The organization creates youth programs to bring the values of eating local, sustainable and just food to schools and campuses, revitalizes and renews disappearing foods and food traditions, and advocates for a national food policy in which all people can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet. www.slowfoodusa.org.
