In the U.S., 97% of households buy cheese, 93% purchase butter, 92% buy milk, and 82% purchase yogurt. Dairy is the largest retail category, outpacing second-place alcohol, with the average American household spending $13 a week on dairy.
Particularly in times of high prices like the U.S. has faced in recent years, consumers make tradeoffs and financial decisions every time they shop. In that light, dairy has remained a tremendous value, encouraged Heather Anfang, president of dairy foods for Land O’Lakes, during the Global Dairy Summit at World Dairy Expo.
She noted that dairy has great selling points in four areas that consumers are always looking for and encouraged the industry to further capitalize on them:
1. Taste and experience. This will always be the number one consideration for shoppers, Anfang said, and consumer surveys show that the majority of people prefer the taste of real dairy. More and more new flavors and products are expanding dairy’s interest to consumers.
2. Convenience. New packaging and formats of products also makes dairy foods desirable to new audiences. Anfang described how many people rely more on snacks these days than sitting down for three meals. How can dairy be used in foods that work for them? She illustrated another example by highlighting that Land O’Lakes now offers packages of butter balls to make it easier for consumers to use butter in their cooking.
3. Authenticity and value. Dairy products provide an easily accessible source of broad nutrition benefits to people around the world, and dairy farmers have a great story to tell. Consumers are interested in that, Anfang said.
4. Health and wellness. Food is the top area in which Americans think about being healthier, Anfang said. Many consumers also see protein as a nutrient of need. With dairy’s 13 essential nutrients, including protein, this is our opportunity.
A broader reach
But dairy doesn’t just own those points on a domestic scale. We can leverage those benefits globally, too. And that will be a crucial part of our sales strategy as milk production is likely to keep growing but the U.S. population remains relatively stable.
“It’s not just about calories in a diet. It’s about healthy calories,” said U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) CEO Krysta Harden in explaining how dairy is a crucial part of the world’s need to not only feed but nourish people. USDEC works with local dairy farmers in the places we sell products to build up dairy as a whole and help more people know the value of milk and its nutrition. In some places that will never be able to meet its domestic needs for milk, such as Indonesia, she cited, U.S. dairy then plays a role in filling that gap.
That process is also about building relationships with customers to help them fit dairy into their local cuisine. Pizza and cheeseburgers are not everyday foods in many places, Harden noted. Finding new and innovative ways to use dairy ingredients and products offers nutrition and taste to people who want it while supporting U.S. farmers. That opportunity will only continue, she believes.
“I think the U.S. can and should be [the world’s top dairy exporter]. I think it will be,” Harden stated. “I think we will be driving the dairy export picture in the future.”
