noosa yogurt tour

Noosa Yoghurt

Review Highlights

“ I put a few spoonfuls of the honey flavored kind in a bowl and add some slices of pineapple - it's HEAVENLY!!!! ” in 17 reviews

“ I've tasted the strawberry rhubarb and raspberry today (my respective first and second experience with the brand... ” in 9 reviews

“ Its creamy in texture , just a little high in calories . ” in 7 reviews

Location & Hours

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4120 N County Road 25 E

Bellvue, CO 80512

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Overall rating

143 reviews

This is SO delicious!!! I just tried the caramel yogurt!!!! It is so creamy and yummy!!!!! I am excited to try more flavors!

This tour is just amazingly fun to see how Noosa yogurt is made, see the cows and visit the babies. They also have an outstanding cafe at the end that serves all homemade country favorite gourmet sandwiches, smoothies and fresh Noosa yogurt. Sunday Funday!

See all photos from Heather H. for Noosa Yoghurt

I bought this yogurt because of a taste test at Costco. I loved it. 12 to a pack. Within 4-5 days the case was spoiled yet the expiration is not until the 4th of April.

I love Noosa yogurt its my favorite its real creamy lots of fresh fruit on the bottom its the only yogurt I will eat now as all other yogurts either have no flavor or r an immatation sweetener my only complaint is its very expensive and sometimes I can't afford but to buy only 1 or 2 once in awhile its on sale thats when I buy 8 i wish the company would think to put a sticker on the container with a coupon inside it id even buy more but I'm on a limited income so I can only afford so many in a month. I've had all the flavors and Pumkin is number 1# but I also like Blackberry / Raspberry/ Lemon is also very tasty its got a very lemony flavor it reminds me of my dad as he loved lemon he'd eat lemons like apples maybe that could b a knew flavor for Noosa .I'm not fond of cherry so I haven't tried that one but I'm sure it's just as flavorful and good like all the other flavors honey is the perfect sweetness a while ago I made a bday cake & I used the Lemon Noosa yogurt for the filling of a yellow cake with cream cheese icing OMG was it ever good. I will b using Pumkin for filling 9f my homemade carrot cake in December.

FRAUD! Misleading. Hypocrisy. Read the ingredients list before you buy or eat! NOOSA MATES -- HONEY CRANBERRY ALMOND WASTEFUL PACKAGING -- top lid only has 1/8, or a bare level of granola. Bottom container is only 1/3 filled with yogurt. How much would an efficient/useful packaging save a $75+M in yearly sales? You can save an entire lid and a foil. Compact packaging would make it easier to carry/stuff in the purse/jacket on the go. WASTEFUL PACKAGING is also hiding the fact that MATES is only 5.5 oz of yogurt instead of 8 oz. :-( READ INGREDIENTS -- label should read HONEY CRANBERRY ALMOND + COCONUT. COCONUT PALM SUGAR is a forgivable flavor. When you add COCONUT OIL, coconut flavor is NOW dominant. QUANTITY vs VALUES -- I guess being a sell out trumps over VALUES since 2014 huh? Quality is undeniably present. NOTE that humans still value quality vs quantity. Maybe the savings in product packaging would give consumers MORE portion at the same price. Now that I have figured out YOUR intent to deceive, I have NO brand loyalty, nor will I be buying it in the future. NOT NICE, Advent International with $34+ Billion in assets.

I discovered this yogurt randomly. I wish I could remember how. I suspect it was on sale somewhere and I thought "why not"? It's usually on the shelves for $2.50 a container, which is above my price point. But sometimes it's on sale for $2 each. At that price I treat myself and my family. We love all the flavors, but the lemon is probably my fav. Recently a Whole Foods had their "crunch" versions. Smaller cups of yogurt with a topping of some sort. Same price. I picked them up because they were on sale. Otherwise the price point is too high for me to buy often. These crunchy ones are terrific too. They have a whole host of options, my fav is the maple syrup one. This yogurt is super rich and thick. It's not low fat. It's a treat every time. 45/R-a-D Challenge

how dare they put the name GELATO on their product , not even close. It's frozen yogurt, nothing to do with GELATO. Get real people.

Best I've ever had well worth the price please don't change anything not the price ether lol thanks for AK/CO

This Yoghurt kicks the a@s of all other brands. It is really delicious! However, at 8 oz and 200 to 300 calories depending on the flavor, I feel guilty eating it for breakfast when a 150 or 170 calorie flip yogurt at 5.3 oz exists. Thus, it is my Friday splurge yoghurt.

WOW..... I just discovered this yogurt and I am beyond impressed. Looking at the wall of yogurt varieties these days is absurd and trying to find a great one amidst the vast majority, which are just commonplace, is somewhat hard to do. Not today!!!!!!! They had what I thought were some offbeat flavors, such as Mexican chocolate and jalapeño and pineapple, but upon tasting each I couldn't get enough and went back to the store to stock up. Basically whatever flavors were available I got a half dozen containers of each. Well done Noosa :)

57 other reviews that are not currently recommended

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Colorado Dairy Farm Tours for the Whole Family

The weather’s heating up, which means it’s time for some outdoor family fun. If you’re tired of the same old pools and parks, add a Colorado dairy farm tour to your list of summer activities. It’s educational, hands-on, and delicious—there’s no better way to spend a sunny day.

Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy

You’ll jump for joy when you look around Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy. Dawn Jump, who founded the farm in 2002, aspired to “combine her love for goats and cheese-making while bringing sustainable food to her local community.” Jump has achieved all that and more with her dairy farm and creamery. Chock full of education and up-close fun, the farm’s tours will give you a firsthand look at all the work that goes into running a dairy farm. Over the course of approximately an hour, you can step into the boots of a dairy farmer and learn about sustainable agriculture and the history and vision of Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy. Perfect for children of all ages, participants will even get the chance to meet the gentle momma goats—not to mention their adorable kids.

Morning Fresh Dairy Farm

A fifth-generation family-owned dairy farm and a producer of Noosa Yoghurt , Morning Fresh Dairy Farm is known worldwide for its passion for and knowledge of dairy production. Their farm tours will provide insight into the moving parts that go into running a booming dairy farm. Learn about how local farming impacts the community and meet the cows that produce their dairy products. To get a feel for the day-to-day activities, you can even visit Poudre Canyon, the countryside where the cows reside.

Mountain Flower Goat Dairy

Education is at the heart of Mountain Flower Goat Dairy’s mission, something that’s apparent on their Colorado dairy farm tour . Their tours feature several hands-on activities, including bottle-feeding goat kids and teaching them to walk. You can even get a firsthand look at their processes by giving goat milking a try. Best of all, you’ll leave with a whole host of new information on what goes into dairy farming. For an interactive tour that will keep you entertained, Mountain Flower Goat Dairy has got you covered.

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Why is Noosa yogurt so good?

What makes noosa yogurt so good.

Noosa yogurt is known for its rich and creamy texture, as well as its unique flavor offerings. The secret to its delicious taste lies in its high-quality ingredients and traditional yogurt-making techniques. Noosa uses whole milk, fresh fruit, and a touch of honey to create its signature velvety smooth texture and tangy flavor. The result is a yogurt that is indulgent, yet still maintains a light and refreshing quality.

Noosa yogurt is made in small batches, allowing for careful attention to detail and quality control. The company takes pride in sourcing the best ingredients, using whole milk from pasture-raised cows and ripe, juicy fruit. Each cup of Noosa yogurt is carefully crafted to ensure a consistent and delightful taste experience every time.

The Burst of Flavor in Every Bite

What sets Noosa yogurt apart from other brands is the burst of flavor in every bite. Its fruit purees are made from ripe, in-season fruit, resulting in a natural and intense flavor that elevates the entire yogurt-eating experience. Whether you enjoy classic flavors like blueberry or peach, or more adventurous combinations like coconut or key lime, you can expect a burst of fresh, vibrant taste with every spoonful.

The unique blend of creamy whole milk, sweet honey, and bold fruit flavors creates a symphony of taste and texture that has made Noosa yogurt a beloved choice for yogurt enthusiasts. Each bite is a delightful experience, offering a harmonious balance of richness, tanginess, and sweetness that keeps fans coming back for more.

What Makes Noosa Yogurt So Creamy?

Noosa yogurt’s creaminess can be attributed to its use of whole milk from pasture-raised cows. The high fat content of whole milk gives the yogurt its luxurious texture, making it smooth and velvety.

What Sets Noosa Yogurt Apart from Other Brands?

Noosa yogurt stands out for its use of high-quality, local ingredients and traditional yogurt-making techniques. The result is a yogurt that is rich in flavor and creamy in texture, setting it apart from other options on the market.

Where Can I Find Noosa Yogurt?

Noosa yogurt can be found in the dairy or refrigerated section of most grocery stores. Additionally, it can be purchased online through various retailers.

Is Noosa Yogurt Healthy?

Noosa yogurt is made with whole milk and contains live, active cultures, making it a good source of protein and probiotics. However, it is also high in fat and sugar, so it should be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Are There Any Allergy-Friendly Options?

Noosa offers a variety of flavors, including some that are gluten-free and others that are made with lactose-free milk. Check the packaging for specific allergen information.

Can I Make Parfaits with Noosa Yogurt?

Yes, Noosa yogurt makes a delicious and creamy base for parfaits. Layer it with granola, fresh fruit, and nuts for a satisfying and nutritious treat.

What Makes Noosa Yogurt Stand Out?

Noosa yogurt stands out for its indulgent flavor, creamy texture, and high-quality ingredients. It also offers a wide range of unique flavors that appeal to a variety of taste preferences.

What Makes Noosa Yogurt Unique?

Noosa yogurt is unique for its use of whole milk, fresh fruit, and a touch of honey to create a velvety texture and bold flavor. Its small-batch production allows for careful attention to detail and consistency.

What Are Some Popular Noosa Yogurt Flavors?

Some popular Noosa yogurt flavors include blueberry, raspberry, coconut, strawberry, and lemon. The brand also offers limited-edition flavors throughout the year.

Is Noosa Yogurt Suitable for Breakfast?

Yes, Noosa yogurt makes a great choice for breakfast, thanks to its high protein content and rich, satisfying taste. Pair it with granola or fresh fruit for a delicious and nutritious start to your day.

How Can I Incorporate Noosa Yogurt into Recipes?

Noosa yogurt can be used in a variety of recipes, from smoothies and baked goods to savory sauces and marinades. Its creamy texture and delicious flavor make it a versatile ingredient in the kitchen.

Is Noosa Yogurt Worth Trying?

Absolutely! With its rich and velvety texture, bold and natural fruit flavors, and high-quality ingredients, Noosa yogurt is definitely worth trying for anyone who appreciates a delicious and indulgent treat.

About Julie Howell

Julie has over 20 years experience as a writer and over 30 as a passionate home cook; this doesn't include her years at home with her mother, where she thinks she spent more time in the kitchen than out of it. She loves scouring the internet for delicious, simple, heartwarming recipes that make her look like a MasterChef winner. Her other culinary mission in life is to convince her family and friends that vegetarian dishes are much more than a basic salad. She lives with her husband, Dave, and their two sons in Alabama.

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Noosa Yoghurt – Bellevue

Noosa makes the finest Australian style yoghurt, known for its thick, velvety texture, and wide variety of awesome flavors. They’re headquartered in Bellevue in Northern Colorado, just northwest of Fort Collins.

With flavors both sweet and tart, you’re sure to find one you love if you appreciate quality yogurt. It’s available at a wide range of super markets and on Amazon.com (the links below are Amazon affiliates).

There are over 83 million probiotics in one spoonful of noosa. Yes that’s million with an mmm…

Aussie-Style Yoghurt based in Bellevue

In 2005 an Australian-expat, Koel Thomae, whom was living in Colorado at the time, was visiting her homeland in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast. She tasted the most delicious local yoghurt, a creamy blend with passion fruit, and her obsession began.

“That first taste was revolutionary and from that point forward, I was obsessed,” Thomae recalls.

Back in Colorado in 2008 she happened upon a Boulder coffeeshop flyer for Rob Graves’ family-owned dairy farm. After connecting with Rob, they co-founded Noosa Yoghurt. It’s named after an Australian resort area, called Noosa, on southern Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

They launched officially in 2010 after landing on the shelves at local Whole Foods. Then they scored King Soopers, giving them national exposure. The company grew quickly from 4 flavors to 13. Now you can find Noosa in nearly all the big supermarkets, and way more flavors. In 2017 they came out with Noosa Mates, which combines their creamy yoghurt with crunchies.

How It’s Made

The milk is local coming from within 40 miles of the Noose factory. The fresh whole milk is then pasteurized for safety and 3 active cultures are added.

What’s unique about the sweetener added to Noosa is that it’s pure wildflower honey. Every flavor gets this except plain. Then ripe fruit is added for that one-of-a-kind Noosa taste.

Popular Products

Noosa Yoghurt comes in a wide array of incredible flavors and sized containers. You can purchase it in the standard 8 ounce container, a small 4.5 ounce version and 4 ounce 4 pack, the big 24 ounce, as well as a 7 ounce split flavors that come with two side by side yoghurts. Noosa Mates are 5.5 ounces.

Some of the most best selling Noosa Yoghurt flavors include:

Some of the best selling Noosa Mates include:

Address: 4120 N Co Rd 25E, Bellvue , CO 80512

Phone: 970-493-0949

Founded: 2010

Website: noosayoghurt.com

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Is Noosa Yogurt Healthy? An Ingredient Analysis

Calloway Cook Calloway Cook is the President of Illuminate Labs and has reviewed over 1,000 clinical trials. See full bio . , Author | DJ Mazzoni RD, MS DJ Mazzoni is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He received his Master's of Science in Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services. See full bio . , Medical Reviewer | Oct 15, 2023

Calloway Cook Calloway Cook is the President of Illuminate Labs and has reviewed over 1,000 clinical trials. See full bio . , Author

DJ Mazzoni RD, MS DJ Mazzoni is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He received his Master's of Science in Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services. See full bio . , Medical Reviewer Oct 15, 2023

We review published medical research in respected scientific journals to arrive at our conclusions about a product or health topic. This ensures the highest standard of scientific accuracy.

Illuminate Labs has a team of medical experts including doctors and Registered Dietitians who are assigned to review the accuracy of health claims and medical research summaries based on the relevancy of their expertise to the article topic.

The focus of our articles is to share our opinion on the potential efficacy and safety of health trends and products.

N oosa Yogurt is a popular Australian yogurt brand that’s available both in-store and online in the US. The company makes yogurt from whole milk, and describes their product line as “Full On Tasty.”

But what ingredients are actually in Noosa Yogurt beyond milk, and is it healthy? Are there any questionable additive ingredients? Is whole milk healthier than skim milk? And how do real users rate the taste and effects of Noosa Yogurt?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Noosa Yogurt based on research studies to give our take on whether or not the brand is healthy.

We’ll share our thoughts on whole milk versus skim milk, and feature unsponsored Noosa Yogurt user reviews.

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in Noosa Strawberry Yoghurt are shown above.

Whole milk is the first-listed ingredient, and we like the use of whole milk over skim milk.

The popular notion that dietary fat causes obesity is misguided. Consuming excess calories over baseline causes obesity regardless of the calorie source.

A 2018 clinical trial found that whole milk consumption did not have worse effects on cholesterol, glucose or insulin in otherwise healthy adults, and whole milk is nutritionally richer than skim milk because the fat contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

However, there is no mention on Noosa’s website about whether their milk is sourced from grass-fed or conventionally-raised animals. 

As we documented in our Fairlife Protein Shake reviews article, milk from grass-fed animals has been shown to be richer in omega-3 fatty acids than milk from conventionally-raised animals, and grass-fed milk tends to be higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which can have cardiovascular benefits.

Cane sugar is listed twice on the ingredient list, with 18 grams (g) of added sugar in this flavor, which equals 36% of the Daily Value (DV).

Added sugar in excess can cause inflammation in the body according to a medical review published in the Frontiers in Immunology journal, and many Americans already consume too much added sugar from their diet. 

Natural flavors is listed as an ingredient, and we recommend that consumers be wary of natural flavors for reasons described in a 2017 medical review :

"In reality, ‘natural flavors’ are a far cry from what consumers might expect, as they can contain both artificial and synthetic chemicals (often used as processing aids).” 

Live and active cultures refers to beneficial bacterial strains, and this ingredient is one of the reasons that yogurt is considered to be healthy.

A medical review published in the Foods journal found that yogurt consumption can reduce risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and promote gut health.

Overall, we consider Noosa Yogurt to be somewhat healthy. The benefits likely outweigh the drawbacks given the considerable research backing for probiotics, but we don’t currently recommend this yogurt brand.

We would prefer a yogurt brand that sourced milk from grass-fed animals and uses only fruits to sweeten the yogurt instead of added sugar.

But how do real users rate and describe the taste and effects of Noosa? We’ll feature some unsponsored user reviews in the next section of this article.

Real People Try Noosa

A YouTube channel dedicated to food reviews called “Feygin Foodie” reviewed the taste of several different flavors of Noosa Yogurt:

A YouTube creator named Nick Arnot who reviews a number of different yogurt brands on his channel has a review of Noosa:

Our Clean Yogurt Pick

Maple Hill Creamery Organic Yogurt is our top yogurt pick.

Like Noosa, this brand uses whole milk, but Maple Hill Creamery sources exclusively from grass-fed cows, and has no added sugars or flavoring additives.

The only ingredients in this yogurt brand are whole milk sourced from grass-fed cows and live and active cultures.

Interested consumers can check out Maple Hill Creamery Organic Yogurt at this link to the product page on the brand's official Amazon store.

Can Yogurt Cause Weight Loss?

A YouTube video from a channel called "motivationaldoc" cites research studies to discuss whether or not yogurt consumption can cause weight loss:

Noosa has more benefits than drawbacks from a health perspective, because of the strong research backing for yogurt's health benefits.

However, we don't currently recommend this brand because it contains a significant amount of sugar and also contains flavoring additives.

Further, the brand fails to clearly publish whether their milk is sourced from grass-fed cows or conventionally-raised cows, which leads us to assume the latter.

Both of the unsponsored user reviews of Noosa that we featured in this article were favorable.

We recommend that consumers look for a yogurt brand (whether in-store or online) that uses whole milk, sources from grass-fed animals and contains no added sugar.

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Laxen: A rare look inside the Noosa Yoghurt plant

The Graves family has run the same Bellvue dairy farm since 1894.

These days, however, it’s more like a Willy Wonka factory compared to any farm I’ve ever seen. The several thousand acres at the base of pristine foothills now houses 24/7 national Noosa Yoghurt production as well as regional Morning Fresh Dairy services .

Last week I earned a golden ticket to tour the famous dairy plant. Public tours are likely to start later this year. The space currently features a retail store open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays called Howling Cow Cafe, 4120 N. Larimer County Road 25E. 

More: How Noosa founder creates unusual flavors

Noosa co-founder Rob Graves, who learned to milk cows on the property at age six, walked media from around the country through the state-of-the-art yogurt producer. Like brewery tours of the area, the Noosa tour had samples including a flight of whole, chocolate and root beer milks.

The production process is mostly automated and takes about 18 hours to complete a batch. Machines can fill 280 cups a minute. The site features a treatment plant that re-uses the same water for three purposes — making yogurt, cow drinking water and irrigation for crops. There’s a 10 a.m. quality testing every day of the year.

The engineering is an impressive sign of just how far Noosa has come.

The operation launched in 2010 making five-gallon batches in buckets. They sold at the Fort Collins and Boulder farmers markets every weekend.

Graves even admitted he was plenty skeptical the first time co-founder Koel Thomae approached him about the concept. She had noticed a flyer about his farm in a Boulder coffee shop.

More: Do you know the milkman? Dairy delivery thrives in Fort Collins

“Here was this woman from Boulder who wanted to make yogurt,” Graves told the tour.

But Graves was sold on the idea once he tried a sample of the Australian yogurt that inspired Thomae in the first place.

Neither had any clue how successful they would be. Sales have surpassed $100 million and Noosa is available in more than 25,000 stores.

Graves still plays plenty of attention to his cows. He compares his 1,000-cow herd to high school girls, with “queen bees” and clicks often emerging.

The cows instinctively enter a rotating automated milker. Some cows occasionally step back on for a “re-ride.”

Colorado State University students provide veterinary services.

And the centenarian Graves dairy farm has undergone quite the transformation.

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen

Inside the dairy plant: Noosa Yoghurt, with a side of milk

A colorado dairy farmer had a nice milk bottling operation. then he founded a yogurt company with an australian ex-pat. today, yogurt far eclipses the milk business..

cups are filled, sealed with a foil layer and closed with a cap.

Lab technicians perform sensory evaluations of yogurts pulled from the production line. Every plant employee is also invited to a tasting.

A dairy farm (top of the photo) supplies some of the milk needs of the yogurt plant. The headquarters is in the building on the right; a retail store is shown on the left.

The processing room includes the heat exchanger (shown), various stainless steel tanks and filtering equipment.

Yogurt cups from one of the fillers are conveyed past a printer that ink-jets codes and dates.

packages are collated into 12-pack bundles.

a secondary packaging machine collates yogurt cups.

pallets of yogurt in noosa’s on-site warehouse await pick-up by customers. Other pallets will be trucked to a distribution center.

Rob Graves is a dairy farmer and dairy processor who owns Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, Colo. He sells his white and flavored milks up and down the front range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Business was good for the fourth-generation farmer. Demand was growing from home delivery customers, restaurants and Whole Foods. Graves had plans to expand the milk processing plant. That is, until yogurt got in the way.

Enter Koel Thomae. She had just acquired a yogurt recipe from an Australian dairy processor and was looking for someone to make it in the United States. ( See related article .) She found Graves and together the two of them started noosa yoghurt (the company prefers lowercase letters).

Self-taught yogurt maker

Graves had made cheeses but he had to teach himself how to make yogurt. He said he learned something from every batch he made, and he improved and refined the technique. When he ran into a road block, he’d call equipment suppliers to resolve manufacturing issues like shearing, and call ingredient suppliers to hash out solutions to issues like Brix levels, for example.

At first, Graves made the yogurt in 200-gallon batches and packed it in 5-gallon buckets. Graves made fruit purees on the stove in his house. The yogurt truly was handmade. As the business grew, Graves and Thomae added equipment and expanded the plant. But they proceeded carefully, learning from their experiences. They wanted to maintain the consistency and the flavor of the yogurt.

“[We learned] from our previous plants how to make things better,” Graves said. But scaling up from small batches to larger ones can mean, “you lose some of the special thing you had. It’s bigger equipment, bigger tanks. But we still have to keep the same yogurt.”

Graves oversaw the various expansions to the yogurt plant which he calls 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0. He supervised the expansions and installed the processing equipment.

“I would challenge anyone in the dairy industry to build a plant faster than Rob Graves, in a quality way,” Thomae said.

Graves shrugs it off. “I get to play engineer all the time. But it worked to where I think we’re making the best yogurt now that we’ve ever made. We’re consistent. Before, it’s small batches. And they were great. But there were always some that were great, and others just good,” he said.

Now, the texture, the flavor and the balance between the sweet and tart are consistently the same, batch after batch, he said.

“The balance between the sweet and the tart [is] one of the things that we work really hard at to keep that balance,” Graves said. Thomae added, “And it makes us unique, too. Almost like a wine; more complexity in the flavor profile.”

Milk as ‘local’ as it gets

The Graves family has been dairy farming in and around Bellvue for four generations. Rob Graves knows all the farmers. He uses milk from his Holsteins in the fluid milk and yogurt products. As the yogurt business grew, Graves turned to Dairy Farmers of America to supplement his milk supply. Noosa uses 100% Colorado milk and it is all sourced within 40 miles of the plant.

The freshness is “absolutely key to the quality of the product,” Thomae said.

Milk is a cyclical and seasonal product, Graves explained. Cows produce milk with different protein levels and different solids depending on the season. Every dairy processor is making adjustments to standardize the milk so the taste is consistent throughout the year.

The first tankers arrive at 6:30 a.m. and the last delivery is between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Noosa receives four or five loads every day of the week. Milk from Graves’ dairy farm is pumped directly to the plant from the milking parlor next door. Cows are milked on a carousel three times a day.

At many of the dairy processing plants that Dairy Foods visits, drivers wait while the milk is being tested. Then they unload, clean the tankers and go back on the road. The entire process can take from 60 to 90 minutes.

Not so at noosa. Drivers drop their tankers. Noosa will off-load the milk and clean and sanitize the trailers on its schedule. When a driver returns to drop a second tanker, he drives away with a cleaned unit.

“It’s super-efficient for both of us,” Graves said. “That way we don’t have to unload it right away, so we can do our testing.”

The receiving area uses a scale and a flow meter, and the milk is stored in three raw milk silos.

“For every process, we try and verify what we’re doing with two metrics,” Graves said. “This is our new automation system for plant 4.0,” he said, pointing to the human-machine interface panel in the receiving area. “All through the process, you’ve got to use that same logic. We’re doing this procedure, let’s check and then let’s double check. The computer, if it sees something out of line, it’ll pause everything and alert the operator. The operator comes in and checks and figures it out.”

Processing and packaging

In the processing room, the milk is condensed by passing through a series of reverse-osmosis filters. It then flows into stainless steel tanks mixed with other ingredients. Then the milk is pasteurized in a high-temperature/short-time unit and pumped to set tanks in the culturing room. There are four tanks (with room for more, when needed). Yogurt cultures are added. The tanks hold the milk for several hours. Then samples are taken to the lab to be analyzed. If the pH, viscosity, flavor, odor and other factors meet the targets, the yogurt flows to the fillers in the packaging room.

Because the tanks are narrow and vertical, they provide a wide surface area ratio, which treats the milk more gently compared to a typical tank that is more squat, Graves said.

At the fillers, yogurt is injected into 8-ounce cups or 4-ounce multipacks. A heat-stamped foil lid is applied, then an overlid is added. The filled packages pass by a printer that ink-jets a code with plant information and dates. They are conveyed across a checkweigher and through an X-ray machine to the casing room. Then packages are bundled into cases and stored in an on-site warehouse. Once the yogurt clears quality control, pallets are loaded onto trucks bound for a distribution center. Or, customers arrive to pick up their own orders.

Lab tests all day long

In the on-site lab, technicians arrange samples by batch number. They are testing how the packages have performed as the batch proceeds throughout the day. There is an initial viscosity test from the beginning of the batch. A second viscosity test, taken during a sensory evaluation, shows how the yogurt has set up after 18 hours. The answer provides a clue on how the yogurt will set up in the long run. After 45 days (the recommended shelf life), the yogurts will be tested again and the lab evaluates their appearance. Noosa maintains all the data in a log, and information from every batch it has made is stored there.

Every day there are taste tests. In addition to the lab technicians, all employees in the company are welcome to come to the lab and have a sample. Graves, though, doesn’t wait. He already has had a taste first thing in the morning, he said.

“I believe in going out on the line every morning and trying to go get yogurt off the line, and talking to the guys.”

Later in the day, he’ll try to taste in the afternoon but “definitely” has a taste in the evening before he goes home. “That’s the last thing I do before I walk through the plant.”

Involving the entire quality team (which includes marketing) in the daily tasting sessions is part of the company ethos, Thomae said. “I think that’s what also makes us unique. Having this ethos that flows through the plant out to the end-consumer and making sure that everyone that is involved in making, whether it’s on the consumer side or the plant side, has that commitment to quality.”

Early on, during a taste test, Graves noticed something was off with the yogurt. Working backwards through storage, culturing, milk processing and receiving, Graves determined that the plant had received a mixed load. The tanker had picked up milk produced by Holsteins and another breed. Since then, drivers deliver loads of 100% Holstein milk.

Graves has two clean-in-place systems. One is dedicated to raw product and the other to pasteurized product.

“There’s no way they could ever mix,” Graves said. “That was always a fear, especially when you’re reclaiming water, that you could reclaim something from the raw side that would contaminate something on the pasteurized. On the new system, it’s impossible. There are no pipes connected. They are two separate CIP systems. I sleep better at night with that.”

Reclaimed water is used for cleaning in the plant. Graves also wanted to get the plant completely off the grid. He had plans for solar panels to generate electricity and a digester on site to process food waste. But the plant has grown so large that it has reached the limit of its solar capacity (500KVA).

“That’s a lot of power,” Graves noted, but the plant needs more than that.

A team approach

Noosa has about 150 employees, with 120 in manufacturing. Graves and Thomae have instilled a team approach to making yogurt. “Everybody that works here has a real can-do attitude. Nobody ever says ‘It’s not my job,’” Graves said.

Graves has quite a few job experiences under his belt. He grew up in the dairy business but studied finance, not agriculture, in college. For a while, he traded commodities at the Chicago Board of Trade. Then he moved back to the family farm in Colorado. Being a dairy processor allows him to tinker with equipment and processes, which he clearly loves to do. Several times during our conversation, Graves said “I love playing an engineer all day.”

A son, who is also an engineer, works in the plant. Another son and a daughter are in college. All the children have worked in the plant in summers or on school breaks. In the early days, noosa was hand-taping corrugated boxes.

“It was all hands on deck, and Rob’s kids were definitely there,” Thomae said. “I remember shipping out our first cases to Whole Foods and Trevor (Grave’s younger son) was drawing dragons on one of the boxes. I was like, “You can’t do that! That’s going to a commercial customer!”

Quality control is absolutely critical. Thomae talked about when noosa expanded East in 2011. The shelf life wasn’t great and logistics broke down. There was no customer support.

“We sort of got too far afield,” she recalled. “We ended up pulling back and really sort of sitting down and going, ‘Okay, we need to have a better strategy.’”

As noosa adds customers, production has to increase. I asked Thomae and Graves if they ever considered using a co-packer to pick up the extra demand. Both rejected that idea. “That’s a different beast,” she said.

 Thomae said she often is asked what would she would do differently if she could start over.

“I think, both of us would agree, that we would have built a bigger plant from Day One,” she said.

One value from Day One that continues is noosa’s commitment to quality. A poster in a conference room in Bellvue states: “We will make great yoghurt. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always great yoghurt.”  

Photos by  Paul Wedlake Photography 

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Jim Carper is the former editor-in-chief of Dairy Foods .

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