Whole results

In 2018, sales across all milk subcategories were tumbling. A year later, the picture is a bit more positive. While overall sales are down (albeit to a lesser degree), refrigerated whole milk has yet again found its stride. The subcategory was the only one to experience positive growth: up 2.7% in dollar sales (to $4,898.2 million) and 0.5% in unit sales (to 1,703.8 million).

In fact, four of the top 10 brands posted double-digit gains. The winner was Cream O Land (Cream-O-Land Dairy), which posted an impressive 122.4% dollar sales increase and a 117.5% jump in unit sales. Fairlife (Fairlife LLC) also flourished. The ultrafiltered milk brand improved 32.1% and 31.6% in dollar and unit sales, respectively. Another bright spot here was Hood Lactaid (HP Hood Inc.), which saw an 11.6% increase in dollar sales and a 9.5% rise in unit sales.

But two of the top whole-milk brands saw declines, including Dean Foods’ DairyPure. The brand’s dollar sales fell 1.6%, and unit sales declined 4.6%. Prairie Farms (Prairie Farms Dairy) also lot a bit of ground: 0.2% in dollar sales and 1.2% in unit sales.

Skim milk’s continued woes

The refrigerated skim/low-fat milk subcategory, however, continued to have cause for concern. Retail dollar sales here fell 3.9% to $6,900.7 million, while unit sales tumbled 5.7% to 2,514.7 million.

A few of the top 10 brands bucked the downward trend. Fairlife yet again was a category leader, with 25.4% growth in dollar sales and a 25.7% jump in unit sales. Kemp Select (Kemps LLC) posted 5.4% and 4.7% dollar and unit sales gains, respectively. And Hood Lactaid showed growth here, too: Dollar sales rose 3.6%, and unit sales grew 1.2%.

The rest of top 10 brands’ sales fell, with DairyPure losing the most ground. It saw a 10.6% decrease in dollar sales and a 12.8% loss in unit sales. Organic Valley (by the company of the same name) also struggled, with a 7.9% and a 6.1% decline in dollar and unit sales, respectively. Another loser was Hood (HP Hood Inc.), which had a 5.9% fall in dollar sales and a 4.9% drop in unit sales.

Slight decline for flavored milk

Refrigerated flavored milk/eggnog/buttermilk also lost steam. The subcategory saw dollar sales drop 0.4% to $1,516.0 million; unit sales decreased 2.9% to 664.1 million.

Fairlife also was a bright spot here: The brand’s dollar sales grew 17.0%, and unit sales rose 16.2%. Other successes were Borden (Borden Dairy Co.) and Hood (HP Hood Inc.), which each saw a 6.8% increase in dollar sales. Borden’s unit sales increased 6.9%, while Hood’s climbed 3.5%.

Dean Foods’ brands struggled in this subcategory, too. TruMoo saw 13.6% and 15.7% decreases in dollar and unit sales, respectively, and Dean’s Country Fresh lost 11.7% in dollar sales and 14.5% in unit sales.

Close behind was the Darigold brand, from the company with the same name. Its dollar sales plummeted 8.5%, and its unit sales declined 10.3%.