Everything is right. It is widely known to marketers everywhere that it’s very important for a company to convey a consistent and accurate understanding of what its brand name represents.

And just how critical is it? Very.

Just ask this year’s brand leaders.

Through the use of consistent long-term branding strategies, biggies such Kraft, Land O’Lakes, Yoplait and recent powerhouses Horizon Organic and Silk have all come to represent a very specific product image.

Many of the top brands listed in each dairy category have held leadership positions for many years, but some are sinking. And for those testing the top spots — or trying to hold on to a current one — getting there, or maintaining a seat, has its challenges. A line extension with an innovative benefit such as packaging or healthful initiative, for example, can be just the ammunition needed to overthrow a brand leader, maintain a position or move up in the ranks.

Top 10 Dairy Brands
LEADING BRANDS BY CATEGORY
Whole Milk	Horizon Organic
Skim/Lowfat Milk	Lactaid 100
Flavored Milk/Eggnog/Buttermilk	Nestlé Nesquik
Milkshakes/Non-Dairy Drinks	Hershey’s
Kefir/Milk Substitutes/Soymilk	Silk
Natural Cheese	Kraft
Natural Shredded Cheese	Kraft
Cottage Cheese	Breakstone
Yogurt/Yogurt Drinks	Yoplait Original
Butter	Land O’Lakes
Margarine/Spreads/Butter Blends	I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
Sour Cream	Daisy
Dip	T. Marzetti
Pudding/Mousse/Gelatin/Parfait	Jell-O
Ice Cream/Sherbet	Breyers
Frozen Novelties	Nestlé Drumstick

Due to developing market trends, we have included three additional categories this year in the data provided by Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI): Milkshakes/Non-Dairy Drinks, Kefir/Milk Substitutes/Soymilk and Margarine/Spreads/Butter Blends. Leading brands in these new categories are Hershey’s, Silk and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, respectively.

Dannon and Yoplait steal the yogurt category (not surprising) with newcomers to the Top 10 — Dannon Activia and Yoplait Whips.

By its very nature, a brand identity’s effectiveness is rooted in its longevity. And, of course, the product has to be good, dang good. What follows is a comprehensive look at the dairy case.

Where does your brand rank?

Top 10 Whole Milk Brands*
	$ Sales (In Millions)	% Change vs. Year Ago	$ share	Unit Sales (In Millions)	% Change vs. Year Ago	unit share
Total Category	$2,949.0	-6.8%	100.0	1,144.0	-5.0%	100.0
Private Label	1,847.1	-8.4	62.6	727.4	-5.1	63.6
Horizon Organic	49.5	13.4	1.7	11.9	3.7	1.0
Borden	46.1	-7.5	1.6	15.9	-9.4	1.4
Lactaid 100	34.2	9.2	1.2	9.4	7.0	0.8
Prairie Farms	30.5	7.9	1.0	12.9	9.8	1.1
Garelick Farms	29.9	-4.7	1.0	13.3	-4.4	1.2
Pet	28.4	-5.0	1.0	10.2	-7.1	0.9
Organic Valley	25.3	37.3	0.9	6.6	27.0	0.6
Mayfield	25.0	-8.0	0.8	7.3	-9.0	0.6
Dean’s	24.8	-4.0	0.8	11.3	-0.9	1.0
*Total sales of all forms of whole milk brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Skim/Lowfat Milk Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$6,653.9	-2.0%	100.0	2,716.4	-0.8%	100.0
Private Label	4,106.0	-3.5	61.7	1,741.4	-0.8	64.1
Lactaid 100	225.1	7.8	3.4	64.7	3.8	2.4
Horizon Organic	143.1	16.7	2.2	35.9	7.9	1.3
Dean’s	85.2	1.8	1.3	40.3	4.0	1.5
Organic Valley	83.3	39.3	1.3	21.6	29.2	0.8
Garelick Farms	72.5	0.4	1.1	31.2	0.7	1.1
Prairie Farms	67.3	0.5	1.0	30.6	3.7	1.1
Kemps	65.3	-20.3	1.0	26.7	-17.1	1.0
Hood	64.9	-1.1	1.0	25.0	-1.2	0.9
Mayfield	58.1	1.7	0.9	16.6	-0.6	0.6
*Total sales of all forms of skim/lowfat milk brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Flavored Milk/Eggnog/Buttermilk Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$721.1	-0.6%	100.0	383.9	-1.0%	100.0
Private Label	213.5	-2.0	29.6	115.2	-1.8	30.0
Nestlé Nesquik	102.2	3.3	14.2	57.4	1.4	15.0
Dean’s	26.7	-8.8	3.7	15.1	-7.1	3.9
Kemps	17.1	0.4	2.4	8.9	3.9	2.3
Prairie Farms	14.8	13.7	2.1	8.3	13.7	2.2
Mayfield	13.0	-4.5	1.8	5.9	-6.1	1.5
Borden	11.9	0.4	1.7	5.2	-2.6	1.3
Garelick Farms	11.3	-1.5	1.6	5.3	-4.6	1.4
Hiland	11.2	8.3	1.6	6.4	8.0	1.7
Land O’Lakes	10.5	-9.4	1.5	5.5	-6.7	1.4
*Total sales of all forms of flavored milk/eggnog/buttermilk brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Milkshake/Non-Dairy Drink Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$66.6	-0.6%	100.0	39.9	-4.3%	100.0
Nestlé Nesquik	18.9	9.1	28.4	15.1	9.0	37.9
Hershey’s	8.8	-34.5	13.3	6.2	-36.1	15.5
Rice Dream	8.8	15.2	13.2	2.4	8.4	6.0
Hershey’s	5.0	-32.0	7.5	3.5	-33.2	8.7
Odwalla Super Protein	4.8	28.9	7.2	1.6	27.5	4.1
Kerns Auguas Frescas	3.2	15.1	4.7	1.2	18.4	3.0
Ben & Jerry’s	2.7	N/A	4.1	1.4	N/A	3.5
Private Label	2.6	-12.6	3.9	1.8	-10.3	4.5
Shamrock Farms	1.9	126.9	2.8	1.8	121.8	4.5
Don Jose	1.5	21.3	2.3	0.6	14.9	1.4
*Total sales of all forms of milkshake/non-dairy drink brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Kefir/Milk Substitute/Soymilk Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$431.9	7.2%	100.0	138.9	3.1%	100.0
Silk	300.1	11.2	69.5	94.4	6.1	68.0
8th Continent	55.1	-0.8	12.8	17.8	-3.1	12.8
Private Label	33.2	42.0	7.7	13.1	34.5	9.4
Hood Carb Countdown	13.8	-47.2	3.2	4.2	-48.0	3.0
Lifeway	12.5	55.8	2.9	3.9	47.9	2.8
Meyenberg	7.5	13.4	1.7	2.2	8.4	1.6
Organic Valley	2.0	24.8	0.5	0.6	11.2	0.4
Farmland Special Request	1.6	185.4	0.4	0.5	169.9	0.3
Helios	1.2	41.0	0.3	0.3	33.5	0.2
Vitamite	0.8	-71.4	0.2	0.3	-64.4	0.2
*Total sales of all forms of kefir/milk substitute/soymilk brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Natural Cheese Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$6,091.24	1.9%	100.0	2,285.0	4.7%	100.0
Private Label (Shreds)	905.18	3.2	14.9	417.7	13.0	18.3
Private Label (Chunks)	786.06	-2.5	12.9	291.3	1.7	12.7
Kraft (Shreds)	561.97	-1.6	9.2	231.2	1.8	10.1
Kraft (Chunks)	212.13	-6.6	3.5	94.5	-3.6	4.1
Sargento (Shreds)	204.11	-4.5	3.4	83.5	-0.1	3.7
Private Label (Slices)	201.59	13.3	3.3	86.1	22.0	3.8
Tillamook (Chunks)	153.51	-1.2	2.5	32.6	-0.9	1.4
Kraft (Grated)	141.32	2.3	2.3	44.5	1.6	1.9
Private Label (String)	110.31	14.2	1.8	85.9	3.9	3.8
Kraft Cracker Barre l(Chunks)	101.61	-1.7	1.7	36.0	1.0	1.6
*Total sales of all forms of natural cheese brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Natural Shredded Cheese Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$2,014.11	-0.3%	33.1	865.0	6.0%	37.9
Private Label	905.18	3.2	14.9	417.7	13.0	18.3
Kraft	561.97	-1.6	9.2	231.2	1.8	10.1
Sargento	204.11	-4.5	3.4	83.5	-0.1	3.7
Crystal Farms	82.11	2.5	1.3	33.8	9.1	1.5
Borden	48.80	-11.2	0.8	23.5	-9.6	1.0
Kraft Free	31.05	4.5	0.5	11.9	8.5	0.5
DiGiorno	30.60	11.6	0.5	8.4	10.1	0.4
Kraft Classic Melts	19.92	-23.9	0.3	8.7	-21.2	0.4
Stella	14.06	-0.6	0.2	4.2	-3.1	0.2
Sargento Bistro Blends	9.67	-39.4	0.2	4.4	-36.8	0.2
*Total sales of all forms of natural shredded cheese brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Cottage Cheese Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$840.8	-2.5%	100.0	403.9	-2.4%	100.0
Private Label	302.4	-1.8	36.0	156.1	-2.0	38.6
Breakstone	86.8	1.3	10.3	32.9	-0.2	8.2
Knudsen	70.9	-6.6	8.4	26.2	-7.3	6.5
Breakstone Cottage Doubles	35.4	13.0	4.2	33.2	15.3	8.2
Dean’s	27.1	-4.7	3.2	12.0	-4.5	3.0
Friendship	27.0	-3.3	3.2	13.2	-3.7	3.3
Hood	22.6	0.0	2.7	9.9	-2.6	2.4
Prairie Farms	16.0	-18.0	1.9	8.0	-12.2	2.0
Light N Lively	14.1	-17.5	1.7	5.3	-18.9	1.3
Knudsen Cottage Doubles	13.4	11.0	1.6	10.8	11.7	2.7
*Total sales of all forms of cottage cheese brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Dip Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$410.1	1.9%	100.0	184.0	-1.5%	100.0
T. Marzetti	83.3	2.9	20.3	26.9	1.1	14.6
Private Label	80.1	5.1	19.5	39.8	-1.5	21.6
Dean’s	45.2	-2.5	11.0	26.1	-2.5	14.2
Heluva Good	30.7	2.1	7.5	16.9	6.1	9.2
Kraft	24.7	-4.1	6.0	15.2	-7.1	8.3
Classic Guacamole	17.7	3.2	4.3	4.3	-2.3	2.3
Calavo	8.4	52.8	2.1	2.1	50.1	1.1
Litehouse	5.1	-2.2	1.2	1.8	-16.9	1.0
Salads of the Sea	5.0	-3.0	1.2	1.5	-5.4	0.8
Santa Barbara Bay	4.2	7.4	1.0	1.1	6.9	0.6
*Total sales of all forms of dip brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Butter Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$1,197.3	-6.3%	100.0	461.7	3.0%	100.0
Private Label	548.0	-7.5	45.8	237.6	2.8	51.5
Land O’Lakes	343.9	-5.9	28.7	114.1	3.5	24.7
Challenge	59.7	-3.4	5.0	17.9	0.5	3.9
Breakstone	30.7	-14.9	2.6	13.0	-13.2	2.8
Tillamook	24.1	-9.5	2.0	7.7	-6.6	1.7
Crystal Farms	21.6	-0.7	1.8	9.0	7.5	2.0
Kellers	19.0	-15.3	1.6	7.9	1.2	1.7
Cabot	18.9	13.9	1.6	7.0	28.1	1.5
Hotel Bar	17.9	-5.2	1.5	7.7	22.0	1.7
Horizon Organic	12.3	9.2	1.0	2.2	5.3	0.5
*Total sales of all forms of butter brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Margarine/Spread/Butter Blend Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$1,175.5	-2.5%	100.0	766.0	-6.9%	100.0
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter	229.2	-4.4	19.5	121.1	-4.9	15.8
Shedd’s Country Crock	189.9	1.9	16.2	97.6	-0.3	12.7
Private Label	81.4	-11.0	6.9	81.2	-14.4	10.6
Smart Balance	72.9	40.6	6.2	32.9	34.4	4.3
Parkay	71.4	-11.9	6.1	50.4	-14.7	6.6
Blue Bonnet	70.8	-11.0	6.0	80.9	-14.2	10.6
Land O’Lakes	64.1	-1.3	5.5	39.4	-3.2	5.1
Imperial	51.3	-9.8	4.4	67.6	-11.7	8.8
Smart Balance Light	43.8	32.8	3.7	22.3	31.9	2.9
Fleischmann’s	41.2	-12.8	3.5	26.3	-16.0	3.4
*Total sales of all forms of margarine/spread/butter blend brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Sour Cream Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$686.8	0.4%	100.0	441.2	0.3%	100.0
Private Label	192.8	-2.2	28.1	149.8	-0.4	34.0
Daisy	157.0	19.7	22.9	88.3	20.1	20.0
Breakstone	100.0	-3.4	14.6	66.8	-3.5	15.1
Knudsen Hampshire	50.5	-2.3	7.3	23.0	-0.8	5.2
Friendship	13.1	-2.2	1.9	10.6	-4.5	2.4
Cacique	12.6	4.0	1.8	3.6	6.2	0.8
Knudsen	10.6	-5.8	1.5	5.3	-4.8	1.2
Tillamook	8.9	7.0	1.3	4.9	2.5	1.1
Dean’s	8.3	-12.4	1.2	5.6	-10.6	1.3
Hood	7.1	-1.1	1.0	5.0	-4.0	1.1
*Total sales of all forms of sour cream brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Yogurt/Yogurt Drink Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$3,203.20	6.6%	100.0	3,587.1	4.4%	100.0
Private Label	361.70	-1.3	11.3	633.8	-2.6	17.7
Yoplait Original	353.13	6.7	11.0	524.2	5.7	14.6
Yoplait Light	265.83	13.6	8.3	422.8	15.3	11.8
Dannon Light & Fit	216.59	6.8	6.8	271.8	8.6	7.6
Stonyfield Farm	130.99	22.9	4.1	94.4	10.0	2.6
Dannon Activia	128.14	N/A	4.0	51.2	N/A	1.4
Dannon Danimals (Drinkables)	98.71	-2.0	3.1	36.6	-1.1	1.0
Yoplait Go-Gurt	98.22	-12.5	3.1	34.7	-14.9	1.0
Yoplait Whips	92.61	3.7	2.9	152.3	5.7	4.2
Yoplait Trix	86.29	-3.4	2.7	33.9	-2.6	0.9
*Total sales of all forms of yogurt/yogurt drink brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Pudding/Mousse/Gelatin/Parfait Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$572.0	-2.0%	100.0	260.5	-2.7%	100.0
Jell-O	214.5	11.5	37.5	75.5	10.0	29.0
Kozy Shack	105.2	8.0	18.4	39.6	0.9	15.2
Jell-O Gelatin Snacks	51.5	-3.5	9.0	18.2	-2.9	7.0
Jell-O Free	45.6	-11.2	8.0	15.7	-12.9	6.0
Private Label	44.7	-3.3	7.8	20.8	-5.9	8.0
Swiss Miss	33.6	-18.8	5.9	13.0	-19.1	5.0
Señor Rico	12.4	19.7	2.2	32.2	12.5	12.3
Jell-O Sundae Toppers	10.4	-50.8	1.8	3.7	-50.5	1.4
Lakeview Farms	6.5	5.4	1.1	3.9	5.6	1.5
Reser’s	6.0	-2.4	1.1	2.8	-3.5	1.1
*Total sales of all forms of pudding/mousse/gelatin/parfait brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Ice Cream/Sherbet Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$4,403.0	-0.3%	100.0	1,370.0	-0.4%	100.0
Private Label (Ice Cream)	812.8	-2.7	18.5	285.9	-0.4	20.9
Breyers	638.8	7.5	14.5	196.7	10.0	14.4
Dreyer’s/ Edy’s Grand	445.1	-1.0	10.1	130.9	-4.7	9.5
Häagen-Dazs	287.3	12.1	6.5	83.4	7.2	6.1
Dreyer’s/Edy’s SlowChurned	284.0	100.8	6.5	76.8	93.3	5.6
Blue Bell	253.2	2.0	5.8	75.0	1.0	5.5
Ben & Jerry’s	207.6	8.7	4.7	67.8	10.1	4.9
Wells’ Blue Bunny	122.0	14.0	2.8	34.6	17.1	2.5
Turkey Hill	116.9	13.8	2.7	41.8	14.1	3.0
Private Label (Sherbet/Sorbet/Ices)	59.8	-4.0	1.4	27.3	-2.7	2.0
*Total sales of all forms of ice cream/sherbet brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.
Top 10 Frozen Novelty Brands*
	$ SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	$ SHARE	UNIT SALES (IN MILLIONS)	% CHANGE VS. YEAR AGO	UNIT SHARE
Total Category	$2,470.7	2.3%	100.0	819.4	-0.1%	100.0
Private Label	317.9	-4.0	12.9	134.5	-3.2	16.4
Nestlé Drumstick	131.3	-0.6	5.3	38.0	-3.8	4.6
Weight Watchers	127.4	57.3	5.2	28.9	54.1	3.5
Klondike	126.2	-5.0	5.1	42.7	-7.5	5.2
Popsicle	113.3	10.4	4.6	41.5	5.0	5.1
Dreyer’s/Edy’s Whole Fruit	103.4	-1.3	4.2	31.6	-9.9	3.9
Carvel	93.2	6.0	3.8	5.9	2.4	0.7
The Skinny Cow	84.3	16.2	3.4	19.5	12.8	2.4
Dreyer’s/Edy’s Dibs	83.6	97.8	3.4	25.2	91.6	3.1
Häagen-Dazs	57.4	7.6	2.3	19.0	8.1	2.3
*Total sales of all forms of frozen novelty brands in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers (excluding Wal-Mart) in the 52-week period ending December 31, 2006. SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.