Dairy | How the dairy industry proved it’s still the cream of the crop

Government-funded marketing agencies work hard to keep dairy on top.

Soy milk. Almond milk. Oat milk. Pea milk?

Two gold trophies lined up with a glass of milk and a triangle of brie cheese.

Today’s alternative milk market is overflowing as a once-niche coffee request has become the norm for many.

With all the buzz around nondairy options, you’d assume the milk market had dried up. Think again: Dairy consumption has grown steadily since 1995, surpassing 170 pounds of quarterly per capita consumption, per US Department of Agriculture data.

But how has dairy managed to fight off the competition for so long?

Butter believe it

Much of its resilience is thanks to government-supported marketing groups like Dairy Management Inc. and Fluid Milk Board that focus on promoting dairy, per Grist.

Dairy Management, which is funded by fees from dairy farmers and processors, has created some of dairy’s biggest wins:

The group was behind the recent viral butter board trend that swept social media.
It partnered with MrBeast 2x to film the YouTuber tour dairy farms and promote dairy-related competitions in “Minecraft.”
It worked with Taco Bell on a frozen drink that added dairy to Mountain Dew, and on a burrito with 10x the amount of cheese as a normal taco.
Last year, it helped Domino’s roll out its pepperoni-stuffed cheesy bread.

Plus, it’s partnered with McDonald’s since 2009, when it embedded two dairy scientists into the business to get more dairy onto the menu.

The effort paid off: Some 80% of McDonald’s menu items have dairy in them. Even more importantly, Dairy Management has backed research on why McDonald’s ice cream machines are always broken.

A moo-t point?

While Big Dairy is thrilled that we’re slathering butter on boards and eating our weight in cheese, there are still some concerns about the industry.

Globally, dairy cattle emit 231B+ pounds of methane every year. And the jury is out on how much Dairy Management’s campaigns have actually helped US dairy farmers, a demographic that’s fallen by ~75% over the last 30 years.

Plus, Big Milk’s promotions sometimes flop: Fluid Milk Board’s “wood milk” campaign with Aubrey Plaza received a formal complaint from physicians who advocate plant-based diets. Talk about crying over spilled milk.

You can now read the most important #news on #eDairyNews #Whatsapp channels!!!

🇺🇸 eDairy News INGLÊS: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaKsjzGDTkJyIN6hcP1K

Look also

The Milk House: The first herd

Sometimes, while trying to hold a milker on a heifer intent on kicking it off or struggling to get a difficult dry cow into a trailer, I wondered – in all the sweat and anger and cussing – how we got to this moment.

You may be interested in

Butterfat, protein propel dairy’s growth

The Milk House: The first herd

‘If you’re not growing, you’re going to be out’ Dairy farm adapts to changing industry

Topics |
Dairy

Legal notice about Intellectual Property in digital contents. All information contained in these pages that is NOT owned by eDairy News and is NOT considered “public domain” by legal regulations, are registered trademarks of their respective owners and recognized by our company as such. The publication on the eDairy News website is made for the purpose of gathering information, respecting the rules contained in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works; in Law 11.723 and other applicable rules. Any claim arising from the information contained in the eDairy News website shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Ordinary Courts of the First Judicial District of the Province of Córdoba, Argentina, with seat in the City of Córdoba, excluding any other jurisdiction, including the Federal.