Latest news with #JohnCrawford
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Entrepreneur
Cottage Cheese Makers Can't Keep Up With Demand
Health influencers made cottage cheese so popular that companies are struggling to produce it fast enough. Once thought of as a kitschy diet food, lumpy bumpy cottage cheese is seeing an unprecedented rise in demand thanks to health influencers on TikTok. CNN reports that "young, protein-hungry consumers have whipped up new recipes and posted them online," creating a buzz that brands and manufacturers are struggling to satisfy. Related: Dubai Chocolate TikTok Popularity Causes Pistachio Shortage John Crawford, SVP of client insights for dairy at the market research firm Circana, told the news outlet that for decades, cottage cheese was considered "your grandparents' food," but "TikTok changed all that." Cottage cheese sales in the U.S. jumped 20% year over year, according to data from Circana. That follows an approximate 17% increase in 2024 and 2023. Cottage cheese is high in protein, low in sugar, and "appropriate for a GLP-1 diet," reports CNN. And has led to a slew of recipe videos that have gone viral on TikTok, like this one for "strawberry cheesecake ice cream." "Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it," Andrew Westrich, marketing manager at Organic Valley, told CNN. Sales increased more than 30% in the first half of 2025, he says. Good Culture went so far as to post an apology to consumers who are having a hard time finding their products on grocery store shelves. "[D]emand has been WILD," they wrote, promising that they "are working around the clock to get us back in stock." Is this just another chapter in the fad diet life of cottage cheese? Crawford doesn't think so. "It is not a fad when you are seeing double-digit growth in both dollars and in volume, quarter over quarter over quarter, for two years," he told CNN.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
TikTok made cottage cheese so popular, producers are struggling to keep up
TikTok Food & drink Sustainability Food & healthFacebookTweetLink Follow When clients used to ask John Crawford if he thought cottage cheese could make a comeback, his answer was an emphatic: 'No.' 'Part of it was texture, part of it was – it was a diet food, it was your grandparents' food,' said Crawford, SVP of client insights for dairy at the market research firm Circana. 'But TikTok changed all that.' For years, cottage cheese was overlooked, relegated to the diet section of old-fashioned diner menus and health food recipes from the 1950s. But recently, young, protein-hungry consumers have whipped up new recipes and posted them online, turning the lumpy cheese into an internet sensation. Now, popular brands and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand. Cottage cheese sales jumped 20% in US retail in the 52 weeks through June 15 compared to a year ago, according to data from Circana. That followed a roughly 17% annual bump in both 2024 and 2023 and an 11% increase in 2022. The surge marked a turnaround from 2021, when cottage cheese sales fell from the year prior. Cottage cheese is so popular, it made grocery chain Albertons' CEO Susan Morris do a double take. 'I had to double check the numbers, but cottage cheese is actually a strong growth category,' Morris said during a July analyst call discussing quarterly financial results. Some brands have seen even higher spikes, creating spot shortages. Sales of Organic Valley's cottage cheese grew over 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to the co-op. 'Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it,' said Andrew Westrich, marketing manager at Organic Valley. Good Culture, a decade-old cottage cheese brand that is featured prominently in many TikTok videos, has seen its sales explode to the point where it can't keep product on shelves. On July 2nd, the company acknowledged the situation on its Instagram page. 'We know it's been hard to find us lately,' read the caption on the meme-filled post. 'We see the DMs, know demand has been WILD and are working around the clock to get us back in stock.' Customers 'call, email, and post about us when they can't find us,' said Jesse Merrill, CEO and founder of Good Culture. 'The insane demand for our products and our struggle to keep up with it prompted us to acknowledge the shortage.' Merrill saw the potential for cottage cheese back in 2014, he said. It took about ten years for health food influencers to catch up. Cottage cheese, a popular diet food in the middle of the 20th century, was well past its heyday when Good Culture officially launched in 2015. But since then, Americans have been increasingly looking for foods that are high in protein, low in sugar and appropriate for a GLP-1 diet. At the same time, dairy has gotten more popular, with per capita consumption rising in the US. Cottage cheese fits the bill on all fronts. And creative home chefs have figured out how to mask its texture. By spring of 2023, recipes for cottage cheese ice cream were going viral on TikTok. Scores of videos showed food influencers marveling over strawberry cheesecake ice cream, banana cream pie ice cream, berry banana ice cream and more — all made with cottage cheese. Now, in addition to ice cream, interested parties can find recipes for everything from buffalo chicken dip to bagels and biscuits. One account for a self-described health coach has a series of videos simply titled 'how to make cottage cheese taste good.' Coming up with more ways to use a product at home 'can drive an entire category,' Circana's Crawford said. And sellers of the until-recently not-very-cool cheese are leaning in. Cabot Creamery, which makes a Vermont-style cottage cheese (a mix of large and small curds), has posted recipes for cheesecake dip, pizza toast and queso on its website. Good Culture took advantage of its own viral moment with an ad campaign embracing the various ways of preparing and consuming its product. The sustained interest has Crawford convinced that demand for cottage cheese isn't just a passing craze. 'It is not a fad when you are seeing double-digit growth in both dollars and in volume, quarter over quarter over quarter, for two years,' he said. Now manufacturers just have to catch up. To increase supply, Good Culture has started working with more manufacturing partners. But it can't do much more at the moment. 'Most existing production facilities are maxed out,' Merrill said. Good Culture plans to have 'significantly more capacity available' early next year, he added. Organic Valley also works with contract manufacturers, 'many of whom are actively expanding capacity or adding production shifts to meet rising demand,' said Westrich, adding that 'the environment is highly competitive.' Dairy processors have started to build out more production, but it will take time to get new plants or equipment up and running. Daisy Brand, a major producer of cottage cheese and sour cream, recently broke ground on a new facility in Iowa. And Westby Cooperative Creamery, a farmer-owned dairy co-op that sells cottage cheese under its own brand and also makes it for private label and foodservice providers, is investing in new cottage cheese vats. Currently, Westby can make about 14.5 million pounds of cottage cheese per year, said Emily Bialkowski, the co-op's sales and marketing manager. But 'our orders are exceeding that by no less than 30%, and that does not include new inquiries,' she said. The new vats should be operational in the fall of next year, she said, noting that 'word is getting out … and many of our current customers have lined up to pre-commit to additional volume.' For now, Westby is partially filling customer orders. So cottage cheese fans will have to be patient. Or wait until TikTok moves on to the next big thing.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
TikTok made cottage cheese so popular, producers are struggling to keep up
When clients used to ask John Crawford if he thought cottage cheese could make a comeback, his answer was an emphatic: 'No.' 'Part of it was texture, part of it was – it was a diet food, it was your grandparents' food,' said Crawford, SVP of client insights for dairy at the market research firm Circana. 'But TikTok changed all that.' For years, cottage cheese was overlooked, relegated to the diet section of old-fashioned diner menus and health food recipes from the 1950s. But recently, young, protein-hungry consumers have whipped up new recipes and posted them online, turning the lumpy cheese into an internet sensation. Now, popular brands and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand. Cottage cheese sales jumped 20% in US retail in the 52 weeks through June 15 compared to a year ago, according to data from Circana. That followed a roughly 17% annual bump in both 2024 and 2023 and an 11% increase in 2022. The surge marked a turnaround from 2021, when cottage cheese sales fell from the year prior. Cottage cheese is so popular, it made grocery chain Albertons' CEO Susan Morris do a double take. 'I had to double check the numbers, but cottage cheese is actually a strong growth category,' Morris said during a July analyst call discussing quarterly financial results. Some brands have seen even higher spikes, creating spot shortages. Sales of Organic Valley's cottage cheese grew over 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to the co-op. 'Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it,' said Andrew Westrich, marketing manager at Organic Valley. Good Culture, a decade-old cottage cheese brand that is featured prominently in many TikTok videos, has seen its sales explode to the point where it can't keep product on shelves. On July 2nd, the company acknowledged the situation on its Instagram page. 'We know it's been hard to find us lately,' read the caption on the meme-filled post. 'We see the DMs, know demand has been WILD and are working around the clock to get us back in stock.' Customers 'call, email, and post about us when they can't find us,' said Jesse Merrill, CEO and founder of Good Culture. 'The insane demand for our products and our struggle to keep up with it prompted us to acknowledge the shortage.' Merrill saw the potential for cottage cheese back in 2014, he said. It took about ten years for health food influencers to catch up. Cottage cheese, a popular diet food in the middle of the 20th century, was well past its heyday when Good Culture officially launched in 2015. But since then, Americans have been increasingly looking for foods that are high in protein, low in sugar and appropriate for a GLP-1 diet. At the same time, dairy has gotten more popular, with per capita consumption rising in the US. Cottage cheese fits the bill on all fronts. And creative home chefs have figured out how to mask its texture. By spring of 2023, recipes for cottage cheese ice cream were going viral on TikTok. Scores of videos showed food influencers marveling over strawberry cheesecake ice cream, banana cream pie ice cream, berry banana ice cream and more — all made with cottage cheese. Now, in addition to ice cream, interested parties can find recipes for everything from buffalo chicken dip to bagels and biscuits. One account for a self-described health coach has a series of videos simply titled 'how to make cottage cheese taste good.' Coming up with more ways to use a product at home 'can drive an entire category,' Circana's Crawford said. And sellers of the until-recently not-very-cool cheese are leaning in. Cabot Creamery, which makes a Vermont-style cottage cheese (a mix of large and small curds), has posted recipes for cheesecake dip, pizza toast and queso on its website. Good Culture took advantage of its own viral moment with an ad campaign embracing the various ways of preparing and consuming its product. The sustained interest has Crawford convinced that demand for cottage cheese isn't just a passing craze. 'It is not a fad when you are seeing double-digit growth in both dollars and in volume, quarter over quarter over quarter, for two years,' he said. Now manufacturers just have to catch up. To increase supply, Good Culture has started working with more manufacturing partners. But it can't do much more at the moment. 'Most existing production facilities are maxed out,' Merrill said. Good Culture plans to have 'significantly more capacity available' early next year, he added. Organic Valley also works with contract manufacturers, 'many of whom are actively expanding capacity or adding production shifts to meet rising demand,' said Westrich, adding that 'the environment is highly competitive.' Dairy processors have started to build out more production, but it will take time to get new plants or equipment up and running. Daisy Brand, a major producer of cottage cheese and sour cream, recently broke ground on a new facility in Iowa. And Westby Cooperative Creamery, a farmer-owned dairy co-op that sells cottage cheese under its own brand and also makes it for private label and foodservice providers, is investing in new cottage cheese vats. Currently, Westby can make about 14.5 million pounds of cottage cheese per year, said Emily Bialkowski, the co-op's sales and marketing manager. But 'our orders are exceeding that by no less than 30%, and that does not include new inquiries,' she said. The new vats should be operational in the fall of next year, she said, noting that 'word is getting out … and many of our current customers have lined up to pre-commit to additional volume.' For now, Westby is partially filling customer orders. So cottage cheese fans will have to be patient. Or wait until TikTok moves on to the next big thing.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
TikTok made cottage cheese so popular, producers are struggling to keep up
When clients used to ask John Crawford if he thought cottage cheese could make a comeback, his answer was an emphatic: 'No.' 'Part of it was texture, part of it was – it was a diet food, it was your grandparents' food,' said Crawford, SVP of client insights for dairy at the market research firm Circana. 'But TikTok changed all that.' For years, cottage cheese was overlooked, relegated to the diet section of old-fashioned diner menus and health food recipes from the 1950s. But recently, young, protein-hungry consumers have whipped up new recipes and posted them online, turning the lumpy cheese into an internet sensation. Now, popular brands and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand. Cottage cheese sales jumped 20% in US retail in the 52 weeks through June 15 compared to a year ago, according to data from Circana. That followed a roughly 17% annual bump in both 2024 and 2023 and an 11% increase in 2022. The surge marked a turnaround from 2021, when cottage cheese sales fell from the year prior. Cottage cheese is so popular, it made grocery chain Albertons' CEO Susan Morris do a double take. 'I had to double check the numbers, but cottage cheese is actually a strong growth category,' Morris said during a July analyst call discussing quarterly financial results. Some brands have seen even higher spikes, creating spot shortages. Sales of Organic Valley's cottage cheese grew over 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to the co-op. 'Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it,' said Andrew Westrich, marketing manager at Organic Valley. Good Culture, a decade-old cottage cheese brand that is featured prominently in many TikTok videos, has seen its sales explode to the point where it can't keep product on shelves. On July 2nd, the company acknowledged the situation on its Instagram page. 'We know it's been hard to find us lately,' read the caption on the meme-filled post. 'We see the DMs, know demand has been WILD and are working around the clock to get us back in stock.' Customers 'call, email, and post about us when they can't find us,' said Jesse Merrill, CEO and founder of Good Culture. 'The insane demand for our products and our struggle to keep up with it prompted us to acknowledge the shortage.' Merrill saw the potential for cottage cheese back in 2014, he said. It took about ten years for health food influencers to catch up. Cottage cheese, a popular diet food in the middle of the 20th century, was well past its heyday when Good Culture officially launched in 2015. But since then, Americans have been increasingly looking for foods that are high in protein, low in sugar and appropriate for a GLP-1 diet. At the same time, dairy has gotten more popular, with per capita consumption rising in the US. Cottage cheese fits the bill on all fronts. And creative home chefs have figured out how to mask its texture. By spring of 2023, recipes for cottage cheese ice cream were going viral on TikTok. Scores of videos showed food influencers marveling over strawberry cheesecake ice cream, banana cream pie ice cream, berry banana ice cream and more — all made with cottage cheese. Now, in addition to ice cream, interested parties can find recipes for everything from buffalo chicken dip to bagels and biscuits. One account for a self-described health coach has a series of videos simply titled 'how to make cottage cheese taste good.' Coming up with more ways to use a product at home 'can drive an entire category,' Circana's Crawford said. And sellers of the until-recently not-very-cool cheese are leaning in. Cabot Creamery, which makes a Vermont-style cottage cheese (a mix of large and small curds), has posted recipes for cheesecake dip, pizza toast and queso on its website. Good Culture took advantage of its own viral moment with an ad campaign embracing the various ways of preparing and consuming its product. The sustained interest has Crawford convinced that demand for cottage cheese isn't just a passing craze. 'It is not a fad when you are seeing double-digit growth in both dollars and in volume, quarter over quarter over quarter, for two years,' he said. Now manufacturers just have to catch up. To increase supply, Good Culture has started working with more manufacturing partners. But it can't do much more at the moment. 'Most existing production facilities are maxed out,' Merrill said. Good Culture plans to have 'significantly more capacity available' early next year, he added. Organic Valley also works with contract manufacturers, 'many of whom are actively expanding capacity or adding production shifts to meet rising demand,' said Westrich, adding that 'the environment is highly competitive.' Dairy processors have started to build out more production, but it will take time to get new plants or equipment up and running. Daisy Brand, a major producer of cottage cheese and sour cream, recently broke ground on a new facility in Iowa. And Westby Cooperative Creamery, a farmer-owned dairy co-op that sells cottage cheese under its own brand and also makes it for private label and foodservice providers, is investing in new cottage cheese vats. Currently, Westby can make about 14.5 million pounds of cottage cheese per year, said Emily Bialkowski, the co-op's sales and marketing manager. But 'our orders are exceeding that by no less than 30%, and that does not include new inquiries,' she said. The new vats should be operational in the fall of next year, she said, noting that 'word is getting out … and many of our current customers have lined up to pre-commit to additional volume.' For now, Westby is partially filling customer orders. So cottage cheese fans will have to be patient. Or wait until TikTok moves on to the next big thing.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Melting Pot appoints new CEO as part of leadership overhaul
US fondue restaurant franchise The Melting Pot has named John Crawford as its new CEO as part of several leadership changes. Crawford will succeed Bob Johnston, a founding member. Johnston will continue as chairman of the board, supporting the brand's strategic direction. Crawford, who joined Melting Pot in March 2020, previously held leadership roles at Ruth's Chris Steak House and Bennigan's. The restaurant highlighted Crawford's focus on franchise support and brand transformation, which has bolstered the company's growth. The company also promoted several executives. Randy Barnett is now chief technology officer, and Mike Mobley has been named chief talent officer. Matt Zurcher was elevated to vice-president of franchise and restaurant operations. Additional changes include Dan Stone as chief business officer and Ana Malmqvist as chief brand officer. Scott Pierce remains chief financial officer. Melting Pot has entered two new franchise agreements in 2025, expanding into North Dallas, Texas, and Syracuse, New York. The North Dallas location will be led by new franchisees Dan and Tracie Greene. The Syracuse development is headed by an existing franchisee group. The franchise agreements align with Melting Pot's 50th anniversary, celebrated in April with special menu offerings. The Grand Reserve Cheese Fondue was introduced to celebrate, reinforcing the brand's "perfect night out" identity. To support further expansion, Melting Pot will launch a golden anniversary incentive on 1 July 2025. The first five new-construction franchise agreements signed will get a 50% discount on the initial franchise fee. This offer runs until 31 March 2026 or until five agreements are signed. The brand is seeking franchisees to expand in key markets such as Texas, Florida, Michigan, California and Tennessee. In May 2024, The Melting Pot unveiled its plan to expand into Wichita, Kansas. "The Melting Pot appoints new CEO as part of leadership overhaul" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
