For decades, the dairy industry’s messaging has been simple, functional and largely defensive. Dairy is healthy. Dairy has protein. Don’t fear the fat.
But according to Michael Burdeny, chief commercial officer at California Dairies Inc. (CDI), that functional messaging is no longer enough to move the needle — especially when it comes to butter.
Speaking at the 2026 HighGround Dairy Conference in Chicago, Burdeny laid out a stark reality: While butter is enjoying a renaissance among older generations, it is quietly losing its grip on Gen Z and Millennials. If the industry wants to absorb the massive surge of U.S. butterfat currently flooding the market, it must stop treating butter like a utility and start marketing it like an experience.
“I think we have an acquisition problem,” Burdeny warns. “We’ve left butter a bit on cruise control because everybody likes butter and it somewhat sells itself. But what we’re not doing as an industry enough is helping insert ourselves in social media channels to help generate that adoption and create that food excitement.”
The Demographic Disconnect
To understand the problem, one must first look at the data. Burdeny points to Circana’s Dairy 15 report, which breaks down dairy category consumption by demographic.
The numbers reveal a glaring divide. Boomers and retirees heavily over-index in butter consumption, buying 21% to 24% more than the baseline average. However, the adoption rate plummets as the age brackets get younger. Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Z are significantly under-indexing.
“As healthy as the category is as a whole, what’s happening here is really not catching traction with younger demographics,” Burdeny explains. “At the same time, there’s a lot of things that butter delivers that align really well with younger consumers: It’s authentic, it’s less processed, it tastes great and it delivers a premium experience. There’s a mismatch.”
Compounding this issue is the staggering amount of butterfat currently being produced by the U.S. dairy herd. Driven by advanced genetics and feed optimization, cows are producing milk with higher fat components than ever before. While U.S. per capita butter consumption has grown slightly, it still drastically lags behind nations like Canada, France and India. If U.S. producers want to keep their margins intact, domestic demand must accelerate to meet the swelling supply.
The Emotional Purchase
To bridge this gap, Burdeny argues the industry must pivot away from its reliance on functional health benefits.
“In consumer packaged goods, there are a lot of instances where the functional benefit alone is not what provides demand, and certainly not what drives pricing,” Burdeny says. “It’s really what’s happening with the emotional benefit.”
He points to coffee as a prime example. Functionally, coffee is caffeinated bean water. Yet, consumers who balk at paying 50 cents for a cup made at home will gladly pay $7 at Starbucks. Why? Because Starbucks sells an experience, a sense of belonging and a reflection of self identity. Food, Burdeny stressed, is a highly emotional purchase and younger consumers are desperately looking for brands that align with their identity and values.
While plant-based alternatives previously captured this emotional demographic by selling “sustainability,” that shine is wearing off. Consumers are increasingly pushing back against highly processed, seed-oil-laden margarines and vegan spreads.
Even Upfield, the massive CPG company behind historic margarine brands like Country Crock and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, is reading the writing on the wall. After years of leaning into plant-based messaging, Upfield recently launched “Red Barn” — a premium, 84% butterfat product made entirely from real dairy.
“They have a lot of smart people who are keeping their finger on the pulse of consumer trends, and they’re floating the capital to where they see the industry going,” Burdeny notes. “They are going all-in on real dairy.”
TikTok, Tattooed Chefs and the New Kitchen Classroom
If the product is authentic and the competitors are pivoting back to real dairy, why is Gen Z still under-indexing? According to Burdeny, it comes down to how younger generations learn to cook.
“As a Gen Xer, I learned to cook from my mom and my older sister. Butter played a very important role in learning that behavior — how to brown butter, how to use it as an ingredient,” Burdeny reflects. “But looking at my son, he is certainly not learning from me. He’s learning from social media.”
Gen Z is highly interested in cooking at home, driven by a desire to replicate the premium, high-flavor meals they experience in restaurants. However, their culinary education is dictated entirely by algorithms, TikTok influencers and YouTube chefs.
“If they want to know why restaurant food tastes better than whatever they’re cooking at home, it’s probably because they’re not using enough butter,” Burdeny laughs. “But we have to overcome that barrier and perception and that’s where we need to channel our messaging.”
Reframe the Conversation
CDI is taking this challenge head-on. Rather than launching a generic ad campaign touting butter’s health benefits, they are targeting the super-premium butter segment and partnering with edgy, high-profile culinary influencers to make butter cool again.
CDI recently enlisted Matty Matheson — a heavily tattooed, boisterous real-life chef and star of the hit FX series The Bear — alongside popular YouTube creator Binging with Babish. The goal is to create experiential, viral content that shows younger consumers how butter elevates their cooking.
Burdeny points to a recent viral TikTok trend where users dipped soft-serve ice cream directly into butter and sprinkled it with sea salt.
“It sounds somewhat ridiculous,” Burdeny admits. “But this is the kind of thing where butter delivers that ultimate taste profile. Used in unconventional ways, it gets people to pay attention. It makes food exciting.”
The Path Forward for Producers
The takeaway for the broader dairy industry is a call to action. Farmers are doing their job, producing record amounts of high-quality butterfat. But the marketing side of the industry must step up to meet them.
“We have to do a really great job with a little bit of a different messaging,” Burdeny urges. “Dairy is healthy, yes. It has protein, yes. But the reason why it’s so great is because it tastes great. And the thing that makes it taste great is the butterfat.”
To capture the next generation of consumers, the dairy industry must stop apologizing for butterfat and start celebrating it. It’s time to take butter off cruise control, get it on TikTok and remind Gen Z that the secret to every great meal isn’t a trendy seed oil — it’s butter.
