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CoBank report shows strong dairy sales continuing

The dairy category continues to dominate grocery and retail sales.  Dairy Economist Corey Geiger with CoBank tells Brownfield dairy products account for 76 billion dollars in sales over the last year, and consumers love the taste and the health benefits. “Not only from the great proteins found in dairy to most complete amino acids and building blocks for muscles, but the flavorful fats found in dairy products are being craved by consumers and those are going to be two things that propel dairy forward.”

And Geiger says even though the Food and Drug Administration has not adjusted dietary guidelines to recommend more dairy fats, consumers are reading about the health benefits and buying accordingly. “We have record butterfat levels coming off our dairy farms and we still cannot make enough butter, the product, because consumers are buying that much of it, and restaurants and chefs, too.”

And, he says the demand for butter is helping support the farmer’s milk check. “Last year, 58% of the value of milk checks for people in multiple-component pricing was butterfat.”

Geiger says dairy sales are also strong because of convenience foods like snack cheeses and yogurt.

CoBank’s report is called Dairy Products Have More Growth Potential and says nearly 90% of consumers have no plans to reduce their dairy product purchasing behavior.