Developing dairy products, animal-based or plant-based
You want to take a drink, a yoghurt or a dessert to series production, dairy-based or plant-based. We develop the recipe, solve stability and sensory profile, and connect you with the manufacturer that can actually run your product. Based on more than 300 development projects, with vly and Blue Farm among our clients.
440+
Dairies and dairy-alternative manufacturers in our database
The base is the first and most important decision
More than 440 dairies and manufacturers in our database produce dairy and dairy alternatives, 103 of them with a documented plant-based capability. But milk, oat, soy and pea are four different raw-material worlds: different pre-treatment, different solubility, different sensory profile, different cost. The base decides which manufacturers are even an option, before the first recipe is mixed.
We develop the recipe on the base that fits your product and your calculation, and in parallel find the manufacturer whose process and minimum quantity match. In the end you hold a specification that lets you negotiate there as an equal.
What works differently for dairy products than for other products
Six points where dairy and plant-based projects get stuck in practice. All six can be solved early in the recipe; late, they cost months.
Sedimentation is the final boss
Plant protein wants to settle. Whether the drink is still homogeneous after eight weeks on the shelf is decided by homogenisation, stabilisers and pH control, not by shaking before opening.
UHT changes the taste
Heat treatment preserves and at the same time creates cooked notes that quickly become dominant with pea protein. Recipe and process have to be developed together, not one after the other.
Fermentation needs the right base
Yoghurt cultures are trained on milk. On oat or soy they acidify differently, texturise differently and sometimes need different strains. Plant-based yoghurt is its own development work, not substitution.
It must not be called milk
The EU protects designations like milk, yoghurt and cheese for animal products. Oat drink instead of oat milk is not a style choice but naming law, and it extends to wordplay on the packaging.
Aseptic is equipment engineering
Ambient shelf life without refrigeration means aseptic filling, and only certain manufacturers can do it. Chilled fresh opens more manufacturers but closes distribution channels. This fork sets the manufacturer list.
Protein is a cost lever
The protein content on the pack is a selling point and at the same time the most expensive part of the recipe. One more percentage point changes the margin noticeably. That belongs in the calculation before the sensory profile is optimised.
Three phases to a production-ready recipe
Fundamentals and technical concept
We sharpen the product idea, target group and positioning, choose the base, dairy or plant protein, and define the technical concept: process, chilled or ambient, packaging, target values.
Recipe development and partner search
We develop the recipe in the lab, test stability, sensory profile and protein content, and in parallel look for the dairies and manufacturers that can actually run your process and your volume.
Industrial trials, iteration and handover
The recipe runs on the plant, gets tasted and refined. The result is a specification with nutritional values and a proposed declaration a manufacturer can work with.
Example figures from our projects
Benchmarks from the projects we have supported. Not a price list and not a commitment, but the orders of magnitude you can plan with.
Your category is not listed? Ask anyway. The list shows where we have experience, not where our limits are.
Minimum quantities
| Filling | from |
|---|---|
| Small batch | from 2,000 units |
| Industrially scalable | from 20,000 units |
The real floor depends on the process and the packaging. Aseptic lines run in different batches than chilled cup lines, and with printed packaging it is often the minimum print run that sets the limit. We will tell you the number that applies to your product after the first conversation.
Duration
2-4 months from concept to first production, assuming the project runs without major detours. Fermented products and novel food questions extend the timeline.
Manufacturer lead time
individual. Lead time is individual per dairy and manufacturer and shows rather little seasonal variation. Aseptic capacity is in particularly high demand. We clarify it early in the partner search, not at the end.
All figures are benchmarks from completed projects, not guaranteed values. We commit to quantities, dates and prices only once process, packaging and target volume are defined.
What a manufacturer wants to see from you
If you have everything on this list, all you need is the right manufacturer. If half of it is missing, that is exactly our work.
Missing something? Let us talk- Compliant recipe
All ingredients with quantities, legally checked, designation and claims clean under naming law.
- Base and process defined
Dairy, oat, soy, pea or a blend, chilled or aseptic, fermented or not, with a target volume.
- Technical specification
Target values for pH, viscosity, protein content, stability and sensory profile. What the manufacturer sets the line to.
- Nutritional values and declaration
Calculated or analysed, with a draft label and checked claims.
- Realistic minimum quantity
A batch you can finance and sell. One of the most common points where projects get stuck.
Who produces dairy products and dairy alternatives in Europe and what that means for you
We maintain a database of thousands of contract manufacturers and dairies in Europe and beyond. It is our working tool for partner search, not a public directory.
440+
dairies and dairy-alternative manufacturers recorded
103
of them with documented plant-based capability
100
with organic certification, 11 with IFS
8
countries with 20 or more manufacturers
The database is continuously maintained research. Many traditional dairies now also run plant-based lines, but then develop within their own plant, suppliers and minimum quantities.
Dairies and manufacturers by country
| Country | Manufacturers |
|---|---|
| Germany | 63 |
| Italy | 53 |
| France | 41 |
| Spain | 28 |
| Netherlands | 28 |
| Belgium | 25 |
| Poland | 22 |
| Greece | 21 |
For aseptic filling and special packaging formats, the right manufacturer often sits elsewhere in Europe, frequently with different minimum quantities and different equipment than comparable operations in Germany.
What our partner operations produce
Process and packaging are part of what decides which manufacturers are an option at all, and both are hard to change later.
The list shows what is documented in our database and is not exhaustive. Which process and which packaging suit your product is something we clarify in conversation.
What founders ask us most often
The one that fits your product and your calculation, and that is rarely the obvious one. Milk is the functional benchmark that dairies and cultures are set up for. Among plant bases, oat tastes accessible but brings little protein, pea brings protein but needs sensory work, and soy is functionally proven but polarising in marketing. We settle the base together at the start, because it determines manufacturer list, cost and taste at the same time.
Yes. More than 440 dairies and manufacturers in our database produce dairy and dairy alternatives, and many traditional dairies now run both worlds. Whether your product is based on milk or plants is decided by positioning and calculation, not by the manufacturer list.
No. The EU protects designations like milk, yoghurt, butter and cheese for products of animal origin, which is why retail shelves say oat drink. This also applies to allusions and wordplay on the packaging, where case law is strict. We check designation and claims before the label is created.
That is a distribution question. Ambient means aseptic filling, longer shelf life and simpler logistics, but fewer manufacturers and larger batches. Chilled means more possible manufacturers and a fresh image, but a cold chain and faster rotation. We calculate both routes with you before development starts.
Both together, because here the manufacturer helps decide the recipe: aseptic or chilled, which homogenisation, which batches. That is why our manufacturer search runs parallel to development, not after it. We do not produce ourselves and can therefore choose freely, including a traditional dairy running a plant-based line.
The Sprint validates the concept: which base, which positioning, will anyone buy it. Product development turns it into the product: recipe, process, manufacturer. For dairy alternatives the Sprint is particularly worthwhile, because a wrong base decision is expensive to correct. You can also enter development directly.
What we are not the right partner for
We are not a dairy or a manufacturer ourselves. We do not produce in our own facilities; we develop the recipe and connect you with the operation that can run it. We do not rent out kitchens or production space. We do not take on pure filling work without a development component. We do not offer standalone HACCP consulting or certification support. If that is what you are looking for, we are happy to point you somewhere better suited.
Tell us about your product
The more specific you are about where you stand, the more precisely we can answer. We will come back to you personally as soon as we can.
Leonie Hahn
Product Development & Regulatory
Prefer to write directly? No problem.
leonie@futurefoodco.de