More and more consumers are aware of the dangers of eating too much processed food and consuming ingredients you can barely pronounce. That’s why I enjoy companies that are transparent and offer products that are made with real ingredients. One of these companies is Olympic Dairy. Based locally in Delta, Olympic Dairy had humble beginnings starting in 1979 with just 3 employees creating Balkan-style 100% natural yogurt. Olympic Dairy is BC’s best selling organic yogurt which is surprising since they are quite a small facility but also not surprising because they produce a great product.
I was recently invited by them to follow the yogurt journey from milk to supermarket shelf. The day was interesting, as I’ve never been on a dairy farm or at a yogurt making facility!
Our first stop was at NatureGlen Farms, where we learned about the different feed the cattles have, the way they are raised and taken care of (mostly the cows roam free, with the exception of the newly born calves).
All the cows are brought up with the rigorous standards of being organic – they eat non-gmo feed up to 22 pounds of grain per day, per cow! The cows eat far more grass then grain though!
We then got to watch the milking process – the cows instinctively line up and they get to milking.
A large truck comes to receive the milk – one truck can hold 20 gallons. The driver takes a sample of the milk that they will test for fats, proteins, sugars and of course bacteria. Before the milk can even be unloaded at Olympic Dairy, it must be tested.
Through several steps including refrigerating the raw milk, separation and skimming, homogenization, pasteurization, yogurt begins to be made.
And although it seems like a lot of steps go into the process, all these steps seem fairly simplified once you walk through the plant itself. A lot of innovation happens as a result of them being truly a team that works together.
My favourite Olympic Dairy product has always been the Krema – there really is nothing that can hold a candle to it – it’s a perfect substitute for ice cream (as it is still quite rich and thick). What I also like about the products is that they contain the least amount of sugar than their competitors on the market.
Their newest product is the Chia, chia mixed in with the yogurt gives it this cool, tapioca-like consistency that I enjoy.
And it looks like they are working on different flavours but the one I’m looking forward to the most is the Pumpkin Spice flavour, and I’m sure I’m not the only one!
To learn more about Olympic Dairy, check out their website here.
Disclaimer: I was invited by Olympic Dairy to tour their facilities, I was not paid nor expected to write a post – all random thoughts are my own!