Competition for space in consumers' stomachs isn't getting any easier.
According to the latest data from the USDA Economic Research Service, average total consumption of all dairy products in the U.S. in 2012 was 612 pounds per person on a fluid equivalent basis. That's a few pounds more than in 2010 and 2011, but a few pounds less than in 2006 and 2007.
Meanwhile, average milk production in 2012 was 638 pounds per person.
Depending upon how and where you look at the graph above, the trend in average consumption is either encouraging or worrisome. The trend since 1974 is a nice, gradual increase, but for the last seven years it has been flat.
Dairy product consumption peaked at 851 pounds per person during the early days of World War II, then went into a free-fall for 30 years. It hit bottom in 1974 at just 535 pounds per person and changed little until the early 1980s, when pizza popularity exploded and cheese became the darling of dairy marketing.
While cheese consumption has soared from 14 pounds per person in 1975 to over 33 pounds in 2012, a different part of the dairy bucket has sprung a leak. Fluid milk and cream consumption is down about 25 percent and ice cream is down about 20 percent.
