The dairy industry always takes on its fair share of competition. Whether it is plant-based products, marketing campaigns claiming dairy is “unhealthy,” H5N1 bird flu, labor challenges, and more, dairy is really holding up well.

I am not going to dig too deep into the statistics in this column, as our November State of the Industry reports and Market Trends articles offer that information in full. But in general, a majority of dairy segments are performing brilliantly right now, something I do not believe the mainstream press has fully discovered to this point. 

Cheese sales are impressive, ice cream sales are excellent and cultured dairy continues to “hit it out of the park,” with cottage cheese sales specifically hitting grand slams. (I offer baseball analogies in honor of spring training starting soon).

Butter sales are also as smooth as silk, as reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in late 2024 that per-capita consumption of dairy products reached 661 pounds per person in 2023, an increase of 7 pounds per person over the previous year and matching the all-time record set in 2021.

Butter and cheese consumption each surpassed all previous records, reaching all-time highs of 6.5 pounds (butter) and 42.3 pounds (cheese) per person, respectively, in 2023, reported the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).

“You butter believe that dairy consumption is growing,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “Dairy is one of the most nutritionally complete foods available. Milk, cheese, yogurt, whey-protein-infused fitness beverages, and many other dairy foods contain up to 13 essential nutrients, making dairy one of the most nutrient dense foods available. For flavor, affordability, and nutrition, people of all ages are choosing dairy more than ever.”

Even milk sales, long considered a laggard, are improving. According to Circana data presented in Market Trends this month, the dairy milk category saw dollar sales rise by 2% year over year (YoY) to $17.1 billion for the 52-week period ending Dec. 1, notching a 0.2% unit increase to 4.8 billion. 

Although the YoY milk sales increase is not huge, improvement in a sluggish category is nonetheless a plus for the dairy industry. Hence, there is plenty of reason for optimism as dairy sales are strong. Congratulations go out to dairy processors for their fantastic work.

Even better news: There is room for growth. The GLP-1 opportunity, which I focused on in this column last month, is one avenue for potential growth. Lactose-free products could be another big opportunity, as well as global exports and the well-established sugar-reduction and high-protein products we continue to feature in Dairy Foods.

For a look at more potential opportunities for dairy processors, please look for my March report on the IDFA Dairy Forum, which took place in late January in San Antonio.

As always, there is no telling what the future may bring. However, currently, dairy is “rocking and rolling.”