Nearly 1,000 dairy producers and industry representatives gathered last week in Reno, Nevada at their joint annual meeting, where they learned more about the success of dairy checkoff partnerships in driving sales of milk and dairy products. Brian Baxter has more on the powerful partnerships the Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) has formed with McDonald’s and Domino’s.
Listen to Brian Baxter’s interview with Bill Siebenborn, Chair of the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) here:
Dairy Checkoff Forms Powerful Partnerships
Today’s national dairy checkoff program is helping lead the industry on a “path to prosperity” through strategies that work with and through the industry to grow sales, both the long and short and long term. Strategic partnerships are key to the dairy checkoff’s success, according to Bill Siebenborn, Missouri dairy producer and chair of UDIA, the federation of 20 state and regional dairy promotion organizations that work to implement a consistent, unified marketing plan to build sales across the country.
“The checkoff’s dramatic change in course several years ago through strategic partnerships has directly led to our successes today,” Siebenborn said. “Over the past 12 months, these partnerships have resulted in more than one billion additional pounds of milk sold.”
The dairy checkoff has three key core criteria in determining partners:
· Companies whose strategies have shared vision and goals with dairy producers
· Companies whose actions can lead to long-term sales growth across an entire category, not just for a specific brand for a specific period of time
· Companies that are industry leaders – and whom other brands and companies will follow, leading to increased sales
Both McDonald’s® and Domino’s Pizza® fit these criteria, Siebenborn noted.
“As producers, we benefit from industry resources that build on our checkoff investment to grow sales. Consider that for every dollar that producers invest, our partners contribute more than six dollars,” he said.
Through Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff through funding from UDIA and NDB, producers can form partnerships and bring in additional resources, Siebenborn said. “Through our state and regional dairy promotion organizations, we bring the local connections and relationships that are crucial to implementing programs,” he said.
Source: Dairy Management Inc.