Smearcase’s frozen cottage cheese wins the spotlight — and a $100,000 prize — at the Real California Milk Excelerator final

A new snack takes the crown and a six-figure boost

Smearcase walked away from the Real California Milk Excelerator final pitch event with the grand prize and a $100,000 award, turning a curious idea — frozen cottage cheese meant to sit in the indulgence aisle — into a business moment. The win gives the startup money and momentum to take its frozen product into pilots and retail conversations. For shoppers, the pitch promised a creamy, freezer-stable treat that leans on familiar dairy flavors but aims to be eaten like dessert.

How the Excelerator brought startups and dairy players together

The Real California Milk Excelerator is a program run by the Real California Milk marketers and VentureFuel that scouts young food brands using California milk. It stages a multi-month competition where a handful of startups refine products, test concepts and pitch to a panel of dairy leaders, retailers and investors. The final pitch event is the showcase: finalists present live, answer questions, and compete for cash awards and industry introductions.

This year’s final mattered because judges focused not only on taste and technical feasibility, but on whether a product could move quickly into stores. Programs like this are where CPG ideas go from kitchen to contract manufacturer, and the winner gets more direct access to people who make those deals.

What Smearcase is selling and why it’s different

Smearcase’s product is exactly what it sounds like: cottage cheese that’s frozen and meant to be eaten like an indulgent snack. The company positions it alongside frozen desserts rather than next to refrigerated dairy tubs. The texture is described as smoother and creamier than standard cottage cheese, with added flavorings and a formulation that holds up in the freezer.

Where typical cottage cheese is seen as breakfast or health-food fare, Smearcase aims for the treat aisle. That means sweeter or richer flavor profiles, packaging geared toward single-serve enjoyment, and a shelf story that reads like dessert rather than diet food. The startup says the product keeps protein and dairy character while offering a novelty that could grab impulse buyers.

Why this could matter for the dairy aisle and snack shoppers

The wider grocery landscape is asking two questions: can brands make dairy feel new, and can they move it into more profitable places in the store? Frozen novelty and indulgence categories have room for new items that capture quick purchases — think single-serve ice cream bars or grab-and-go desserts.

If a frozen cottage cheese product finds traction, it could change where some dairy products sit in stores and how shoppers think about cottage cheese. Retailers are always hunting for items that lift basket spend and offer higher margins than commoditized refrigerated tubs. Smearcase’s pitch is that this is a familiar ingredient repackaged as a small impulse buy — a potential win if shoppers try it once and like it.

Organizers and founders react to the win

A spokesperson for the Real California Milk Excelerator said the judges were impressed by Smearcase’s clear route to store shelves and its consumer-facing positioning. “We saw a product that could open new doors for dairy and spark shopper curiosity,” the spokesperson said.

Smearcase’s co-founder, speaking after the announcement, called the prize a validation of their idea and a practical boost. “This award helps us move from test kitchen to pilot runs and tells retailers we’ve passed a real industry litmus test,” the co-founder said.

Who Smearcase is and what comes next

Smearcase is an early-stage food startup founded by entrepreneurs who wanted to reimagine cottage cheese beyond the refrigerated aisle. The company is at a pilot stage: it has a working product and consumer tests, but it has not yet scaled wide retail distribution. The $100,000 prize is earmarked for production scale-up, packaging development and pilot runs with select retailers.

Next steps include manufacturing trials and demonstrations to potential buyers. The company will also use the prize to refine flavors and packaging for freezer placement. For now, Smearcase remains a small brand with a big idea — its win at the Excelerator gives it a clearer path toward a store shelf and a chance to see whether shoppers will treat cottage cheese like a frozen treat.

Sources

• prnewswire.com