PETALUMA, Calif. -- Laloo's Goat Milk Ice Cream Co.'s frozen treats are winning shelf space in upscale grocery freezers across the country.
Some people see goats' milk ice cream and they sort of wrinkle their nose, founder Laura Howard told the Associated Press. After they try it, it's a different story.
Laloo's Goat Milk Ice Cream Co.'s products taste like premium ice cream; she said it is a myth that goat milk has to carry the smoky tang that conjures up visions of Heidi in grandpa's hut. Milk flavor is mostly the result of [image-nocss] what the goats eat and how they are managed.
Goat milk has been drunk all over the world for centuries. But it has been only relatively recently, with the success of high-end goat cheeses, that Americans have taken an interest in the other white milk. These days, goat has gone gourmet with products including milk, yogurt and even soap becoming more widely available.
There has been a huge increase in demand, said Scott Bice, farm manager for his family's Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery in Sebastopol, Calif.
Laloo's, which comes in flavors ranging from Vanilla Snowflake to Chocolate Cabernet, was picked up by Whole Foods Market Inc. after the chain's national grocery buyer, Perry Abbenante, tried a sample. Abbenante wasn't expecting too much because of the price, about $6.99 a pint. Laloo's did better than expected and has since expanded to most Whole Foods markets around the country as well as some other upscale grocers.
Laloo's costs quite a bit more than other premium products. Howard says the price is unavoidable with a handmade product made in small quantities relying on a key ingredient that also is produced in relatively small quantities. Howard gets her milk from a Petaluma farm and makes batches once a week, slow-cooking the milk to mellow out the flavor and arrive at the right level of creaminess.
She sold about 20,000 pints last year, about twice as many as the year before, and is on track to double again this year. Howard is now looking into setting up satellite operations in other parts of the country.
We've had kind of a runaway train on our hands, she said.
Part of goat milk's popularity is that some people find it easier to digest, said AP, although there hasn't been a lot of academic research in that area.
Goat milk generally contains less lactose than cow milk, although the difference isn't huge, David P. Brown, senior extension associate at Cornell University's Department of Food Science, told AP. Both milks have about the same fat content, but the fat globules in goat milk are different, which may affect digestion, he said.
Laloo's is low fat, so much so it technically is reduced-fat ice cream, being below the 10% milk fat that defines ice cream by government standards.
To Howard, the most important thing about her product is the taste.
It wouldn't probably find a wide audience if it didn't taste really good, she said.
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