The dairy industry is on the cusp of a new era of packaging innovation, driven largely by sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets that require investment in new packaging solutions to limit food waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce landfilling. 

While not quite as envisioned in “I, Robot” or “The Jetsons,” robots are becoming increasingly common in food processing. 

The specialty cheese category is continuing to grow as consumers are looking for new and interesting cheeses with unique flavors and attributes.

Ultra-filtration, also known as UF, is a filtration process that uses a membrane to selectively concentrate protein, fat and insoluble salts. 

U.S. sales of plant-based milks reached $2.8 billion in 2022, according to the Plant-Based Foods Association. “Plant-based milk remains the largest segment in the plant-based foods industry, with 40.6% of U.S. households purchasing plant-based milks, and an astounding 75.7% of consumers repeating their purchases,” the organization stated.

Two months ago in this column, I addressed the alleged decline of milk consumption by Generation Z, defined as those born between 1997 and 2012. According to a report, Gen Z is consuming much less milk than the national average.

In 2022, China was ranked No. 1 in U.S. exports of agricultural products. The total export value has increased significantly every year since 2018, rising 14% most recently from 2021 to 2022. 

Gone are the days when consumers walking down the grocery store aisle simply looked at the traditional four P’s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. 

Last month in this column, I discussed how I believe concerns about milk-consumption declines are overblown. Although consumption has dropped since 1945 — a much different time — other segments of dairy have picked up the slack. 

The U.S. dairy industry is increasingly reliant on export markets for growth and profitability.