June is Dairy Month! In honor of the occasion, I thought it would be interesting to poll my favorite group of dairy (and non-dairy) experts, the staff at Willy Street Co-op, to find out which dairy products they prefer. Below you will find the results. Some are quite predictable, but there are a few surprises as well. I know there’s more than one item on this list that is new to me, and will be making it onto my grocery list soon!
Favorite Dairy-Based Milk
- Winner: Sassy Cow Creamery Chocolate Milk
- Runner Up: Sassy Cow Creamery Whole Milk
- Honorable Mention: Organic Valley Whole Milk
Apparently, our staff are not counting any calories, because chocolate and whole milk nearly swept this category!
Favorite Non-Dairy Milk
- Winner: Califia Almond Milk
- Runners up: Wildwood Soy Milk, Willy Street Co-op Almond Milk
Almond milk was the clear favorite in this category, garnering nearly 40% of the vote. Califia was the preferred brand, although our own Willy Street Co-op house-made almond milk (available in the Juice Bar) has some loyal fans as well.
Favorite Yogurt
- Winner: Brown Cow Cream Top Yogurt
- Runner Up: Stonyfield Yogurt
- Honorable Mention: FAGE Yogurt
A full 15% of staff picked Brown Cow Cream Top Maple flavored yogurt as their favorite, making it by far the most popular flavor. Other flavor preferences were pretty evenly spread between the classic blueberry, strawberry, and good ol’ vanilla.
Favorite Non-Dairy Yogurt
- Winner: So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt
So Delicious ruled this category. A few other brands got votes, including Almond Dream, Tempt, and Forager, but not enough to warrant runner-up status.
Favorite Kefir
- Winner: Wallaby Whole Milk Kefir
- Runner Up: Helios Vanilla Kefir
Once again, whole milk won the day in the Kefir category. Wallaby whole milk was the clear favorite, particularly the cherry and strawberry flavors. For those who prefer vanilla, Helios brand was the clear favorite.
Favorite Butter
- Winner: Kerrygold
- Runner Up: Organic Valley
It was a tight race between Wisconsin-made Organic Valley butter, and Kerrygold, a grass-fed butter from way across the pond in Ireland. Surprisingly, Wisconsin lost out, with 29% voting for Organic Valley butter compared to 35% for Kerrygold.
Favorite Non-Dairy Butter
- Winner Earth Balance Buttery Spread
- Runners Up: Miyoko Vegan Butter, Lard
Earth Balance was the clear favorite in this category, with 81% of the vote. Miyoko’s vegan butter, and surprisingly, lard, were the only other entries.
Favorite Ice Cream
- Winner: Sassy Cow Salted Caramel Ice Cream
- Runners Up: Talenti Gelato, Alden’s Organic
This category got lots of votes, and unsurprisingly, everyone seems to have a different favorite flavor. That said, Sassy Cow Salted Caramel was the clear winner. With so many flavors to choose from, Talenti Gelato was a close runner up, along with Alden’s Organic Ice Cream.
Favorite Non-Dairy Ice Cream
- Winners: So Delicious Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert, Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss
So Delicious and Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss each garnered 37.5% of the vote, making this an exact tie. Interestingly, the favorite flavor from each of these brands was chocolate peanut butter. Who doesn’t love chocolate peanut butter?
Cheese
- Winner: Hook’s Triple Play Extra Innings
- Runners Up: Sartori MontAmore, Cesar’s String Cheese
Hook’s Triple Play Extra Innings is a relatively new cheese to our lineup, but given that it won the 2017 Willy Street Co-op Cheese Challenge back in March, it was no surprise that it won here as well. Perennial favorite (and previous cheese challenge winner) Sartori MontAmore and the ever popular and delicious Cesar’s String Cheese were close runners up.
