Does Milk Really do the Body Good? Here’s Why Science Could Help Drive Dairy Demand

Dairy demand has been robust in the U.S., despite fluid milk sales on a steady decline for decades. That’s as more Americans opt for dairy products like yogurt, cheese and ice cream, and now the dairy checkoff is doubling down on science to help increase appetites in the U.S. for even more dairy.

Prices in the dairy aisle don’t seem to be easing heading into the holidays.  The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed dairy and related products rose 16.4% year-over-year. The dairy industry says even with the inflation headwinds, there are some bright spots for dairy consumption in the U.S., a topic highlighted during the Milk Business Conference (MBC) this week.  

“If we look back over the last year, we got some exciting news in October from the USDA, and that was per capita dairy consumption was up 12% over the previous year, and that 12% was driven by cheese, butter and yogurt,” says Stan Erwine, senior VP of Farmer Relations for Dairy Management Incorporated (DMI), which is the dairy checkoff. “If you look at those three categories over the previous decade, it was a 10% increase, 13% increase and 2% respectively. So, those things excite us and some of the new work we're doing with some new partners also excite us.” 

Erwine admits fluid milk sales as a whole is one that’s been a decline for decades, but whole milk is up, and he says that’s particularly the case in value added products such as probiotics.  

So, how does the industry try to boost fluid milk sales and reverse the declining trend in the U.S.? Seeing the health benefits of dairy is something DMI is wanting to focus on even more.  Recently, DMI entered into a new collaboration with Mayo Clinic. It’s led by the National Dairy Council, which is also part of the checkoff. The goal is to look at nutrition research to prove the health benefits of milk. 

“That collaboration is a long-term collaboration, as research always is,” says Erwine. “But it's focused on the role of dairy foods, particularly whole foods, and the science behind it in cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. So, that work is being done with a collaborative scientific party of both groups. It will be a while before we see the research, but it's quite exciting.” 

Erwine says one of the biggest questions he gets from farmers is if dairy consumption is down. He says dairy consumption as a whole is actually up, but fluid milk is down. Now with possible inflation headwinds, Erwine says that’s why the checkoff is focusing on science as a way to help drive demand. 

“How do we future ready the checkoff for a consumer unlike anyone we've ever seen for market conditions and global issues like we've never seen? And for DMI, we're looking in areas that are doubling down on sciences,” he says. “I'm often asked, ‘Where did the advertising go?’ Well, we've even seen the advertising execs now coming out and saying while ‘Got Milk?’ was the greatest advertising campaign ever, in terms of winning awards, even the experts now realize it did not change the trajectory of fluid consumption.”

The “Got Milk?” campaign is one that connected with a lot of people, but Erwine says the research proves it didn’t drive fluid milk consumption or prompt people to buy more milk. That's why he thinks partnerships with groups like Mayo Clinic, but also mega food chains such as McDonalds and Domino’s are what helps increase dairy consumption across not just the U.S., but around the world. And Erwine says more of those partnerships are in the works. 

“Another one is what we call entering ‘chicken wars.’ And that would be a partnership with Raising Cane's Chicken. And what's the opportunity there? Well, the hamburgers are served, 80% are with cheese. Of all the millions of servings of chicken sandwiches served, only 10% have cheese. So, if we can make that change, we can see 600 to 700 million, maybe a billion pounds of increased sales. And that’s an exciting opportunity that we have in working for the future for the farmers.”

DMI says 80% of McDonald’s menu includes dairy, but the big success story is Domino’s, a company that now is dubbed a “cheese company,” and one that has built a business on putting more cheese on pizza.