Midwest Dairy Accelerator highlights innovation in legacy industry

Chicago recently played host to the culmination of the 2025 Midwest Dairy Accelerator, an eight-week program aimed at nurturing innovation within dairy-based startups across the region. The initiative, founded in 2000 in St Paul, Minnesota and currently organized by Midwest Dairy together with New-York based innovation advisory firm VentureFuel, offers participants “dedicated mentorship, industry connections, and resources to help them scale” according to its website. Its primary goal? To assist startups to create dairy-centered products that align with the changing preferences of consumers.

At the closing pitch event on September 3rd, held at Chicago’s nonprofit business incubator, The Hatchery, four startups - RoseBud Ice Cream, Zoguri, Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding, and Sugarwitch - had the chance to present their ideas to a panel of judges composed of experts from companies like My/Mochi, Instacart, Culinary Culture, Queue Brand Communications, and Dairy Management Inc. RoseBud Ice Cream from Illinois, which sells ice cream in convenient, kid-friendly pouches, took home the top prize of $20,000 along with a $10,000 consulting package from Queue Brand Communications. Runners-up were Zoguri from Nebraska, which specializes in fermented dairy supplements using a proprietary L. reuteri probiotic strain, which earned them $10,000.

Sam Rose, Founder and Chief Cream Officer (CC)) of RoseBud Ice Cream, based out of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, highlighted just how much the accelerator helped their business. “Being part of this cohort has shaped my perspective on dairy innovation by illuminating a lot of things when it comes to dairy. Honestly, I hadn’t fully realized just how much of a superfood dairy really is - this has sparked a whole bunch of new ideas for future products” he said, adding that he’d be using the prize money to make the switch to a new pouch supplier.

Daniel Rehal, the Founder of Zoguri from Omaha, Nebraska had a similar view on the value of the program, saying “the recognition by Midwest Dairy… helps us reaffirm our mission to improve the health of others through fermented dairy and using an L. reuteri strain of probiotic.” 

Throughout the entire eight-week program, the founders participated in targeted workshops and one-on-one sessions with experts from different parts of the dairy industry, including Associated Milk Producers Inc., Agropur, Iowa State University, and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. The program covered crucial topics needed to effectively scale early-stage CPG businesses, including understanding consumer insights, ingredient innovation, co-packing, co-manufacturing, distribution, retail marketing, and pitching.

Midwest Dairy operates across ten states including Illinois and Minnesota, representing 3,600 dairy farm families. Its VP of research and innovation, Beth Bruck-Upton, pointed out in their press release that “Dairy farmers have always been innovators, finding new ways to bring nutritious products to market and meet the changing needs of consumers,” adding that this inventive spirit was a necessity in the industry, in order to grow and succeed. 

The recognition for startups like RoseBud Ice Cream and Zoguri may highlight an emerging trend: the importance of convenient, functional, and health-conscious dairy options that consumers are looking for. As the dairy market continues to change and adapt, programs like this in ‘legacy’ industries across our region can help foster innovation, support growth, and promote sustainability across the sector.