News & Promotions
Chocolate Milk From Ohio’s Smith Dairy Proved a Teen Favorite
Blind Taste Tests Show Lowfat Chocolate Milk a No. 1 choice.
ORRVILLE, Ohio -- Smith Dairy Products Company, the leading regional maker of dairy products, beverages, and ice cream, today announced that a national study of children ages 12 to 17 revealed that SMITH’S Lowfat Chocolate Milk was ranked as the No. 1 favorite among 48 milk products with less than 22 grams of sugar, and third overall among 141 tested products.
“Now we know from objective, third-party research that our chocolate milk is a clear favorite among school-age teens,” said Penny Baker, Director of Marketing at Smith Dairy. “And of course the more they like it, the more likely they are to choose it above less-nutritious drinks.”
The study, initiated by Dairy Management, Inc., asked a representative group of children ages 12 to 17 from across the country, divided equally between girls and boys, to sample milk products in a blind taste test. The children scored the milk for aroma, overall taste, flavor, and overall preference. A score above 70 was considered excellent.
SMITH'S Lowfat Chocolate Milk received some of the highest scores ever, with an 81 for overall preference, 80 for aroma, 84 for overall taste, and 84 for flavor. The scores ranked SMITH'S third for overall preference out of the entire field of 141 milk products, third out of 93 chocolate milks, third out of 87 milks with 150 or fewer calories, and first out of 48 milks with 22 grams of sugar or less.
In 2008, Smith Dairy assured that all of its school milk contained 150 calories or less. Varieties include Cappuccino Twister, Chocolate, Strawberry and Limited Edition flavor Cookies ‘n Cream.
Smith Dairy packages its school milk in plastic pint and half-pint bottles with electrifying label graphics that have scored big with kids since their introduction.
The packaging captures the spirit of energetic kids of all ages, from elementary to high school. The label features silhouettes of students playing sports, skateboarding, and diving against a background of stylized splashes, streaks, and bolts of lightning. The designs suggest the positive, healthy lifestyle choices that can result from drinking nutritious milk.
The plastic bottles aren’t just eye-catching and designed to keep milk fresher and better tasting, but they’re also easily stacked, displayed, or stocked in vending machines so schools can stash SMITH’S milk wherever students might work up a thirst. The bottles are conveniently easy to open, grab, and gulp for kids on the go, and they’re 100 percent recyclable.
“We’d like to thank everyone from our dairy farms to our customers and consumers for helping to make SMITH’S Chocolate Milk one of the best in the country,” said Baker. “By this time, we should know how to make a great product, since we've been doing it for 100 years.”