December 15, 2014

 

US dairy industry launches US$500 million campaign to make milk a 'relevant' beverage

 

 

Could milk be one day an irrelevant beverage? This prospect has so alarmed the industry in the US that it launched recently a US$500-million campaign to boost milk drinking, which has gone down to its lowest level since 1982.

 

The industry noted Americans were drinking a lot less milk today as the total milk sales went down to its lowest level at about 52 billion pounds, or about 6 billion gallons, in 2013, the lowest level in 32 years.

 

It said the steady decline in milk sales could be attributed to changing consumer habits, more drink choices and a lack of dairy product innovation.

 

If the new milk campaign fails, the decline in milk sales may be impossible to curb, said Tom Gallagher, chief executive of Dairy Management Inc., a national organization that promotes dairy products.

 

"The numbers are devastating. At some point, milk could become an irrelevant beverage for the average consumer," Gallagher said.

 

The campaign, undertaken by the Dairy Management Inc. and seven business partners including Dairy Farmers of America, includes the construction of milk packaging plants, which would innovate milk packaging including the aseptic method, which allows milk to be kept on a store shelf unrefrigerated just like a juice box.

 

Milk has also been sold in small packages that resemble a cow's head to make it appealing to children.

 

Dairy Management Inc. said it was trying to promote milk use in indirect ways such as cheese promotion since using even small amounts of milk adds up to large amounts overall. Quaker Oats has also changed its oatmeal cooking recipe to include milk instead of water.

 

Rural lending specialist Rabobank in an earlier report has acknowledged the "unfortunate reality" of subdued demand and over-supply of milk in global markets.

 

"[M]ilk prices are now falling in key production markets around the world, which will in time produce a supply response and lower export supply growth," Rabobank's director of Dairy Research New Zealand and Asia, Hayley Moynihan, had said.