News

Majority of consumers would support local dairy processing and added costs

A recent nationwide study shows consumers would pay a premium for local dairy products if they were readily available.

Phil Durst with Michigan State University Extension tells Brownfield more than 20,000 consumers were surveyed pre-COVID as part of a USDA study to learn about potential marketing opportunities for small and medium-sized farms.

“Approximately three-quarters of consumers really prefer to purchase local products,” he highlights.

He says those findings have held true throughout the pandemic as demand for both local beef and dairy has remained after an initial spike last spring.

“The consumers are returning to local processed and produced products and saying that’s what we want and are willing to pay for,” he says.

Nationwide, consumers said they were willing to pay at least 20 percent more for local dairy products.

Durst says if consumers knew how local some store brands are, like Kroger and Meijer which are both produced and processed in Michigan, they would have greater confidence and trust in the dairy aisle.

“I don’t know that consumers connect the milk in the jug in the grocery store with local processing even though it is local processing,” he says.

Durst says the study found there is also room for growth to share the sustainability and environmental stories of farms.