US dairy Cabot Creamery Co-operative notched up a record with a difference when it created the world’s biggest smoothie.
A 100-strong team spend seven hours mixing up the 1,000 gallon treat at the 82nd annual Florida Strawberry Festival, taking the Guinness World Record from previous holder McGill University of Toronto, Canada, whose smoothie had measured 824.7 gallons.
Two human-powered Vitamix bicycle blenders were used alongside four commercial and eight residential Vitamix blenders to mix the smoothie, which was poured into a 1,000 gallon food-grade holding vessel packed in ice.
Once it was made, the smoothie was sold in Cabot keepsake cups at the festival – an 11-day celebration of the Eastern Hillsborough County strawberry harvest – for a suggested donation of one dollar or more, which went to food banks Feeding Tampa Bay and United Food Bank of Plant City.
Volunteers from the food banks joined the smoothie-making attempt, alongside workers from voluntary group United Way Suncoast.
All leftovers were filled and shipped to Feeding Tampa Bay in hundreds of specialised 2.5-gallon food grade containers donated by CKS Packaging.
Cabot’s record attempt enabled the company to raise and contribute nearly $10,000 in cash and product to the food banks, and the remaining smoothie product will help feed thousands of people in need throughout Central Florida.
Cabot also donated more than 500lb of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar and Cabot Alpine Cheddar to the food banks.
The smoothie using more than 250 gallons of Cabot Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt, 2,000lbs of fresh Florida strawberries; 3,375lbs of ice and 265lbs of Cabot Whey protein powder.
It’s not the first time the Cabot team held the record – they created more than 400 gallons of smoothie in 2013 at the Bike Expo New York.
“Our farmers are happy to recapture the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest smoothie to benefit United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay,” said Roberta MacDonald, senior vice president of marketing.
“The 1,100 farm families who own Cabot Creamery are dedicated to supporting communities where we sell our dairy products, and funding and undertaking this colossal effort to raise money for United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay is one of the many ways our farm families give back to those in need.”
Thomas Mantz, executive director of Feeding Tampa Bay, said: “The enormity of this record reminds us of the enormity of the hunger issue in our community, with 700,000 of our neighbours not having stable access to food.
“The fresh and healthy ingredients used in this smoothie are perfectly aligned with Feeding Tampa Bay’s goal to deliver more fresh, nutritious foods to those in need every year.”
Cabot’s found more success at the World Championship Cheese contest in Madison, Wisconsin, where its Greek Yogurt took “Best In Class” in the competition’s High-Protein Dairy category.
The co-op was formed in Vermont since 1919 and makes cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter, and is owned by 1,100 dairy farm families located throughout New England and Upstate New York.
