Shelf Life Increases on Two ORGANIC Products

Apr 01, 2024 (Westby, WI)

Westby Cooperative Creamery is excited to announce that the quality team has lifted the shelf life on its organic sour cream and organic French onion dip to 90 days from date of manufacture. Previously, the shelf life was 75 days from date of manufacture. Several time studies completed by the quality manager have indicated that the product is good for 90 days.

This improvement was achieved without formula alterations and can be attributed to our manufacturing team’s consistent and persistent pursuit of its master sanitation plan. Jason Levendoski, Westby Cooperative Creamery quality manager, said he and his team had been watching the Creamery’s retention lots for four years. Retention lots represent a portion of every batch of product made and are kept for future investigation should a customer complaint or concern arise.

The team noticed that the retain lots were consistently lasting longer and longer. This observation motivated the team to scrutinize the hypothesis for 24 months, and the results were favorable with the lots maintaining freshness. “Organic products are notoriously known for having a shorter shelf life due to their lack of preservatives,” Emily Bialkowski, Westby Cooperative Creamery sales and marketing manager said. “With our team’s commitment to its master sanitation plan, we were able to achieve the same shelf life on our organic sour cream and organic French onion dip as that of our conventional product. This is a very favorable change for our customers, and we are so proud of our innovative work in the organic dairy space.”