U.S. fluid milk sales have hit a 30 year low, with more than half of U.S. adults no longer consuming milk.
In 2011, total U.S. beverage milk sales were 53 billion pounds – about 6 billion gallons – the lowest level since 1984, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures released in August.
Whole milk beverage sales in 2011 were less than half their level from the early 1980s, according to the Agriculture Department.
“We have known there’s been a continuous decline in per-capita milk consumption for many years, going back even further than 1984,” said Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program known for the “Got Milk?” and milk mustache advertising campaigns.
Shifting consumer habits and a flood of new beverages in the marketplace, including sports drinks and bottled teas, have taken a toll on beverage milk sales, Godfrey said.
“If we have 55 million kids going to school each and every day, and we don’t present them with a product they like and comes in a handy container, then we have lost them for a lifetime,” said Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc., a national organization that promotes dairy products and is funded by dairy farmers.
“If we don’t see fundamental changes in the milk business, and I don’t mean incremental changes, then milk is going to become an irrelevant beverage at some point,” he said.
The gallon milk jug was invented to feed a nation that, decades ago, was largely eating most meals at home as a family. But times have changed, and the dairy industry hasn’t always kept up with marketing trends aimed at more diverse, less predictable lifestyles.
The industry hasn’t done what successful brands should do to grow, according to Gallagher.
“The first thing we have to look at is ourselves rather than blame our competition,” he said. “People are still eating yogurts, cream cheeses and other products . . . but if you walk through the grocery store there’s shelf after shelf of our competition. And we should be there, too.”
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel