Re-emerging Opportunities for Dairy in 2022

The consumer purchasing landscape has gone through seismic shifts in the past two years. As we look ahead to the new year, we’re seeing many of the trends we were talking about prior to COVID-19 re-emerging and providing great opportunities for dairy to shine. With farmers and processors working together, we will build on already-positive impressions of dairy to keep dairy top of mind while continuing to drive sales and earn consumer trust. Here’s what we know:

#1 AMERICANS LOVE THEIR DAIRY — Despite numerous changes experienced at retail and foodservice, we’re seeing that Americans are still quite interested in dairy (remember, 96 percent of Americans have dairy products in their refrigerators). Because 2020 was an outlier, we’re looking at 2019 sales data as a comparison for dairy sales growth. Between 1985 and 2020 total milk commercial disappearance increased by 74 percent in products such as cheese, yogurt and whey products.

#2 SPECIALTY CHEESE REMAINS A KEY DRIVER — Using 2019 as a more normal baseline, specialty cheese sales saw a 17 percent elevation in 2021. As 90 percent of the milk here is made into cheese, Wisconsin leads the nation producing a quarter of all cheese in the U.S. and accounts for 50 percent of specialty cheese production.

#3 SUSTAINABILITY IS TOP OF MIND — Dairy is a staple of the American diet. U.S. dairy accounts for 2 percent of total greenhouse emissions, 5.1 percent of water use, and 3.7 percent of U.S. farmland. This impact, however, presents a unique and vital conservation opportunity.

Sustainability was a hot topic for consumers pre-pandemic and dropped a bit during the worst days of the pandemic when we were primarily focused on staying safe and healthy. As we settle into this new ‘normal’ consumers are once again focused on sustainability — and at the highest levels we’ve seen. One in 13 Americans say the environment is the biggest issue facing the U.S., which is more than healthcare, education and COVID-19, so this tells us sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue for our customers.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND RESOURCES— Whether you want to attend events or join conversations with farmers online through social media pages or other platforms, you have many opportunities to learn more and share insights about environmental care and sustainability.

Resources and groups you might find helpful as you build your network:

• Discovery Farms
• Farmers for Sustainable Food
• Sand County Foundation
• Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES)
• Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy
• Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS)
• Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association