The health of any given market is often measured by the amount of advertising support given to it. Based on this issue, I can say the dairy industry is healthy and off to a great start in 2013. I hope you’ll continue to support our loyal advertisers. Like us, they want to help you grow and meet your goals.

Last November, I reached my 10th anniversary with Dairy Foods. I feel privileged to be part of this industry. The past 10 years has seen so much change in the dairy industry and in the media business. Ten years ago, Dairy Foodswas a print product distributed through the United States Postal Service. That was the only way to receive our content. We barely had a website, we didn’t have an e-newsletter and nobody had ever heard of a webinar. Social media did not exist and smart phones were flip-phones at best.

We adapted to the times. In fact, we have been more than a magazine for many years. Today, we are a “brand” working hard to serve the informational needs of dairy processors across the globe. To take this a step further, the business-to-business auditing organization BPA Worldwide now tracks key metrics beyond print. BPA’s reports show media buyers verified audience data and demographics across most media channels, such as websites, e-newsletters, social media, webinars and live events.

What was a rather simple and basic “circulation statement” when I started on Dairy Foodsis now called a “BPA Brand Report” that is designed to present the entire scope and depth of a brand. Here’s a quick snapshot of Dairy Foodsand how you and other dairy professionals access our content.

Dairyfoods.com

• Since the website’s redesign a year ago, traffic has grown over 70%, with unique monthly visitors topping 18,000.

• Users logged more than 120 hours of viewing of dfTV videos.

• The number of webinars we produce has grown, along with the number of participants listening to them. The recent U.S. Dairy Export Council Global Dairy Outlook 2013 broadcast had a record 710 registrants from 45 countries. (You can listen to an archived version.)

• We’ve taken two awards online. Our annual Plant of the Year award received close to 4,000 votes and our Best New Products of 2012 Peoples’ Choice award has received more than 7,000 votes.

Social Media

• The combined participation on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook grew 70% in 2012. Dairy FoodsLinkedIn Professional Network alone has more than 7,500 members, an increase of more than 80% over last year, with week-over-week growth of nearly 100 members.

Dairy Product Innovations e-newsletter

• Starting in January, we are distributing this re-designed e-newsletter twice a month to 13,000+ subscribers.

Print and digital editions

• Since launching an audited digital edition five years ago, subscriptions to this format have grown to 16% of our total circulation of 20,550.

• As for the printed version, 17,148 of you request this format. The ink-on-paper version of Dairy Foodsis not going away.

2012 was a fantastic year for Dairy Foods. We had the opportunity to visit and report on such leading companies as Swiss Valley Farms, Gifford’s Ice Cream, Dannon, Safeway, Mars (the Plant of the Year), Glanbia (the Tom Camerlo Exporter of the Year) and Chobani (the Processor of the Year).

Such access to your boardrooms and facilities is a sign of your trust, which allows us to provide reporting and content that is unique and exclusive to the market. We continue this into the New Year. Read our two articles about HP Hood, the nation’s 17th largest dairy processor, beginning on pages 94 and 104. In February, we visit with Rhino Foods and in March we tour a Bel Brands’ facility.

We want to continue to be your superior information source for success in the dynamic world of dairy food manufacturing. We will be there for you when, how and where you want it. The entire Dairy Foods team wishes you much success in 2013.

Thank you for your continued loyal support and contributions to the growth of our brand.

12th Annual Supplier Spotlights