Cottage cheese ‘deserves a comeback’: Good Culture co-founder and CEO says

Irvine, California-based Good Culture is leading a revival in the cottage cheese market with help from a $2.1m partnership with General Mills in March 2016.

Good Culture cottage cheese wants to “disrupt a sleepy category with exciting and relevant innovation. Cottage cheese is an overlooked super-food that deserves a comeback,” Good Culture founder and CEO Jesse Merrill told DairyReporter.

Good Culture recently launched an organic, whole milk, grass-fed range of sweet and savory cottage cheese flavors, available in 700 retail stores at a suggested retail price of $2.49. Packaged in 5.3 oz. fully recyclable cups, flavor varieties include: strawberry chia, blueberry acai chia, classic, kalamata olive, and sundried tomato.  

Focus on natural nutrition

Good Culture starts with milk from grass-fed, free-range cows from sustainable family farms in Wisconsin. The company’s tagline “It’s cottage cheese, but better” refers to the use of only a few, natural ingredients.

Good Culture aims to appeal to consumers who are looking for healthier, unprocessed food. All ingredients are organic and non-GMO, which makes for a cottage cheese that is high in protein (17-19 grams per cup), low in sugar, and without gums or thickeners.

“We are experiencing a paradigm shift where people are looking to real food as their primary source of nutrition,” Merrill said. “Consumers are looking for full-fat dairy products that are satiating, delicious, less processed, and contain less junk.”

One container of the cottage cheese contains 5-6 grams of fat and 140-160 calories.

Competing for ‘share of stomach’

“We are competing for share of stomach with other high-protein, nutrient-dense snacks. We believe that if we stay true to our mission of making better foods that are good for you and the planet we’ll continue to have a strong narrative that will resonate deeply with consumers,” Merrill said.