Corey Scott has held many roles in agriculture. Whether it be driving an agronomy truck for a co-op in South Dakota, performing animal nutrition work, holding member relations and risk management roles, working with a start-up tech company, or performing jobs centered around sustainability, Scott has done just about it all. However, she describes her new role as the chief executive officer at Midwest Dairy as one that overflows her cup of optimism.
Scott shares that one pathway of opportunity for the dairy industry is leveraging producers’ superpowers which she explains is their voice of explaining all that is going on with their operations. Storytelling doesn’t have to require allowing the public to come to the barns and onto the farms, Scott says a lot can be done virtually.
“Our consumers want to hear from our farmers,” she says. “They care about what’s happening within their operations, they trust the voice of the farmer.”
Emerging dairy consumption markets also excite Scott, who shares that China, Latin America and Africa are countries that show the most promise.
“Africa is not a place that you typically think of as being a significant dairy consumption continent, but there are a handful of countries on the African continent that we’re seeing economic stability increase, which means we’re seeing consumption of protein increase,” she notes, underscoring that this should spell a rise in dairy exports.
Passion for Sustainability
Scott comes to Midwest Dairy with a business background. So when she talks about sustainability, she looks at it with a business lens.
“As it relates to Midwest Dairy and checkoff, one of the things that I was doing before was creating commercial opportunity between food and agriculture companies and farmers and building that incentive bridge,” she explains.
Now, with the checkoff being her priority, her focus must shift a bit to increasing consumption and sales. “What that bridge looks like now is how do we take what makes economic and operational sense for a producer and also create a positive environmental impact.”
Scott shares that the various generations of consumers care about things differently. This means her role at Midwest Dairy will include taking things that make sense for the producers and building the story to support and deliver the language that consumers understand to help build trust in the dairy products they are consuming.
“It means taking the great work that dairy is doing and translating it into a language that the consumer understands trusts,” she says.
Promotion Activation
Scott explains that consumers like to eat their dairy products. However, Scott is still excited about the idea of increasing domestic fluid milk sales. One way Midwest Dairy has tried to do so is by participating in a cookie and milk activation program with Dollar General, the number two grocer in the U.S.
“This performance was very good,” Scott says. “It was a simple activation, but it generated results.”
Scott shares other fluid milk activations have also taken place, like with Kwik Trip, where they offer seasonal milk.
“It was a test pilot, but it performed well enough that now it’s a thing,” she explains. “DFA also has a Star Wars milk coming out. Research supports the idea that more colorful cartons attract kids to pick up the carton of milk. We’re seeing fluid milk innovation through different flavors and different colors and more colorful packaging that actually work.”
The fluid milk activation is a big opportunity that Scott is excited to see continue to unfold in 2024. She shares another opportunity that Midwest Dairy is embracing is working with 20 social media influencers to create excitement around the sustainability impact of dairy, animal care and the stewardship that comes with how farmers care for their animals.
“We did a small test pilot in 2023 and the return on that was really fabulous. So, we’ve added 20 influencers, and this goes back to our building trust pillar and developing that confidence for the next generation,” she says.
Scott certainly believes that her big role with Midwest Dairy is an incredible opportunity to push consumer consumption and increase sales to help producers’ bottom line. She understands that there has always been some skepticism around how checkoff funds have been utilized, and she believes that in times of economic crunch like what we have right now, there is an opportunity for checkoff to look at how they are deploying producers’ dollars with a more critical lens.
“It gives me an open door. I didn’t come into checkoff with a strong checkoff background. I came with a business and dairy background,” she explains. “I can ask tough questions, like, ‘Why do we use it this way? Why are we doing this thing that we’ve done forever? Maybe it’s not suitable anymore for the changing market?’”
Scott says in her new role as CEO of Midwest Dairy she needs to be the best steward of how checkoff funds are being utilized.
“I understand for producers it’s been difficult out there,” she says. “And for me, it’s been a great vehicle to challenge the way we’re doing things.”
Scott served as the vice president of sales and marketing for Athian and held several leadership positions for over 15 years with Land O’Lakes and its sustainability division, Truterra LLC.
Scott received her Executive MBA and undergraduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and the Carlson School of Business. In 2023, she was selected as one of GreenBiz’s 12 Women Cultivating Sustainable Food Systems and earned a U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award for her work in reducing dairy’s overall environmental footprint.
“I have worked with dairy farmers throughout my career and am always struck by the passion they show for their cows, the environment and our communities,” Scott shares. “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead such a respected organization and support the hard work of both staff and farmers.”
