Dairy Farmers of America launches MULU cottage cheese with 18 grams protein

Dairy Farmers of America is betting that cottage cheese can do what bars and shakes cannot: sell protein in a familiar, low-friction form. Its new MULU line launched nationwide at Walmart on April 16, with 18 grams of complete protein per half-cup serving and a pitch that it is the highest-protein cottage cheese on the market.

The positioning is simple and commercial enough to land. DFA says MULU uses a proprietary whey-and-casein formulation and delivers 33% more protein than the leading brand of cottage cheese. Walmart lists the 16-ounce cups at $4.26 each, with a 2% low-fat version at 100 calories per serving and a 4% milkfat version at 120 calories. Both product pages say the cottage cheese contains less than 1 gram of total sugars per serving.

DFA has framed the launch as a first for the category, calling MULU “the first national cottage cheese brand” to deliver the highest protein on the market. The timing makes sense. Cottage cheese has been one of dairy’s clearest growth stories, with Circana data cited by Dairy Foods showing U.S. sales at $1.33 billion for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 25, 2024, up 16% year over year, then $1.75 billion for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 23, 2025, up 18%. A later Dairy Foods report put sales at $1.95 billion, up 21% year over year.

That run-up has been powered by the same forces reshaping the broader protein aisle: TikTok-friendly meal ideas, consumer interest in minimally processed foods, and a steady search for satiety without a long ingredient deck. FoodBev Media has noted that cottage cheese is attractive to manufacturers because it can be made on existing fresh-dairy equipment with a relatively fast turnaround, which helps explain why legacy dairy players can move quickly when a category gets hot.

MULU fits that moment better than most launches. It does not try to reinvent cottage cheese into a new format or a dessert-like indulgence. Instead, it leans into what shoppers actually count: protein grams, calories, sugar, and convenience. For Dairy Farmers of America, that is the point. Conventional dairy still has room to win when it can turn a refrigerator staple into a clean, macro-friendly choice, and MULU is built to test how far that demand can stretch.