How the US introduced its chocolate milk recipe to Luxembourg

I'm not quite sure how I stumbled across the fact that the US has a day dedicated to chocolate milk, probably during one of my rare morning shifts when I was looking for a catchy Facebook caption for our weather post.

But what I did remember in that moment was another post I stumbled upon. Reddit is a treasure trove for fun facts and this is one I'd love to share with you, because it's never to lait to learn something new.. yeah that was terrible, I apologise.

It all happened in July 1961, a month that may go down as a historic period in the Luxembourgish dairy industry. That month the first deliveries of fresh milk products in milk cartons left the Luxlait farm for American troop bases in Germany and France.

This first contract with the US authorities shows the cooperative's will and willingness to enter international markets with Luxembourg dairy products, and until roughly 25 years ago dairy products were still being produced for the American troop bases.

It is also the reason that you can find Egg Nog on the shelves of every supermarket in the Grand-Duchy every winter. 
The American troops did not want to do without their beloved dairy products such as Egg Nog, Cottage Cheese or chocolate milk from the States, so they brought Luxlait their own recipes to have these products produced here in Europe as well. However, as production alone was not worthwhile for the US troops, the American products were soon also sold on the Luxembourg market, and with success.

A retired Luxlait employee, who remembers the American soldiers, told RTL Today that the Americans actually supervised the production in the company as well. The Americans not only gave Luxlait their recipes, but also insisted that Luxlait follow strict hygiene regulations. These regulations (e.g. wearing hairnets) have since become standard, but according to the retired employee, they were very new at the time.

He describes the American soldiers as quite strict people and that this was the moment that Luxlait started to produce like a really big company - the influence of them was apparently really big.

The chocolate milk quickly became a fan-favourite of all Luxembourg children and was part of the local school routine for decades. Today, it is still one of the most popular Luxlait products and has been made with Fairtrade chocolate since 2022.

Did I convince you on celebrating US National Chocolate Milk Day here in Luxembourg?

How about we toast with a glass of chocolate milk to commemorate this incredible cooperation between the US and our little country.

Cheers!