Why The Great Depression Was A Pivotal Time For The Daisy Brand

Dairy products like sour cream and cottage cheese might not seem like the most exciting foods out there, but there's still a huge market for them.

According to a report made by Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence, the sour cream industry is expected to grow over the next handful of years, especially as people look for healthier options to include in their diets. The condiment is often used as a dip or spread. Plus, its heavy inclusion in Mexican cuisine and its usefulness in desserts like cheesecake, which is popular throughout North America and Europe, means sour cream is on the rise in the western world. Lactose intolerance poses an obstacle to this growth, but dairy-free sour cream skirts around that hardship.

Similarly, a study conducted by Allied Market Research found cottage cheese will also likely gain steam throughout the 2020s, appearing in more foods and even drinks. While desserts and fast food make some use of cottage cheese, its low-fat, high-protein makeup means it fits right at home in healthy alternatives. Current economic issues caused by the pandemic, like inflation and supply chain disruptions, are indeed difficulties, but the future is still bright.

Poised to capitalize on all of this opportunity is the Daisy Brand, a provider of sour cream and cottage cheese with a focus on pure ingredients and delicious flavors.

The Daisy Brand was founded in 1917. Per Grocery.com, it began as a family business owned by Russian immigrants living in the United States, who used a horse and buggy to sell milk and other fresh dairy goods all around Chicago. In 1922, the company was able to upgrade and build its first factory. Only a handful of years in, and things were already looking up!

A handful more years later, the economic situation in the United States suddenly appeared quite bleak. The Great Depression, starting in 1929, as noted by the Encyclopedia Britannica, lasted a decade. The stock market crashed, demand fell, supply plummeted, unemployment spiked, and banks panicked. Yet, the Daisy Brand found its silver lining. While others floundered, the company used inventive promotions to stay relevant and actually increase its popularity. One prime example of this strategy was the creation of mini-porcelain butter churns — cute little symbols that assumedly helped consumers think fondly of dairy products often.

Since then, the Daisy Brand has gone on to steadily expand, open new plants, distribute its goods across state lines, relocate from the Windy City to Texas, implement new technologies, and add cottage cheese to its lineup. Five generations later, the family business is still keeping things fresh.

Our current economic woes pale in comparison to those of the Great Depression, and the Daisy Brand appears just as eager as back then to forge ahead into the future. In 2015, the company unveiled a squeezable pouch package of sour cream, making it simple for customers to evenly distribute the condiment over food (via PR Newswire). "Our flexible package is both fun and easy to use," said Daisy's director of marketing, Craig Ziemkiewicz, "allowing consumers to squeeze a dollop of Daisy exactly where they want it."

The Daisy Brand not only continues to make delightful products, but it's also presenting itself in endearing ways. Adverts from the early 2020s purport, "Only Daisy cottage cheese will do," while showing families, coworkers, and friends all enjoying it. Other commercials also show a Spanish-speaking family enjoying a Hispanic meal with Daisy sour cream, instructing viewers to "do a dollop with Daisy." Even more recently, per Reel Chicago, the Daisy Brand is highlighting its new single-serve cottage cheese with fruit on TV and social media spots. These are designed to attract adults such as "active dads" and "fitness-focused women," who are looking for quick yet healthy snacks. Such videos aim to make the audience see themselves in the households portrayed and then go "grab the Daisy" as a result.

It's been almost one hundred years since the Daisy Brand managed to thrive during the Great Depression, and yet it's still thriving to this day.