Parmalat was the first company to introduce Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) milk in Italy back in 1962. UHT is simply all natural, 100% real cow’s milk that has been sterilized at high temperature, so it does not require refrigeration until after it’s been opened. Parmalat is packaged in sterile (asceptic) Tetra Pak™ cartons and has a long shelf life of six to nine months, until opened. UHT milk is a good nutritional source of calcium, protein, vitamin A and vitamin D and contributes to a healthy, balanced diet.
Services
Food manufacturer’s representative for state-by-state authorization and brand promotion in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC™).
WIC provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for over 6 million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five. Every year, about half of the nearly four million babies born in the U.S. participate in the WIC program. While a federal program managed by the USDA, product acceptance is determined at the state level.
Through advocacy and generating awareness among WIC directors and nutritionists across all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, Blaze gets a client’s products authorized into the WIC program, increases the variety and number of client products available to WIC participants, and promotes the brand to drive new sales.
Project
Blaze was engaged to gain WIC authorizations and increase facings in retail stores to drive WIC sales of Parmalat’s WIC-eligible fat-free, 1%, 2%, whole and lactose-free UHT milk products. Blaze also advocates for increased acceptance and availability of UHT milk in the WIC program. The long shelf life makes shopping for and storing milk more convenient for WIC families.
Blaze maintains regular communications with state and national WIC representatives, attends and exhibits at state and national WIC conferences, and submits applications for WIC authorizations while raising awareness of and promoting Parmalat.
Impact
Before Blaze began representing Parmalat in 2021, the brand was not widely known and was undersold in WIC. Blaze has made significant progress getting Parmalat’s WIC-eligible line authorized in the states that accept UHT milk while also successfully advocating for more states to expand authorization to include UHT milk, successfully increasing WIC market share for Parmalat.
