Dairy News
40% of consumers don’t fully trust dairy processors as more turn to dairy substitutes
Wednesday, 25/07/2018
http://thedairytimes.com/40-consumers-dont-fully-trust-dairy-processors-turn-dairy-substitutes/
New Delhi, July 26, 2018: Some 40pc of consumers do not entirely trust dairy companies, according to research presented by Larry Ryan Director, Behaviour & Attitudes.
He told the National Dairy Council’s ‘Dare to Dairy’ event in Dublin that more and more young people, especially the so-called millennials, are turning to non dairy products as part of their diet, which is a huge challenge facing the dairy sector.
While over 60pc of the population drinks full-fat milk, approximately 10pc of the population drinks almond and soya milk, he said, with that number jumping to 20pc among millennials.
And, while 65pc of adults see dairy a healthy, only 37pc trust it and just 15pc love it, he said and as image and appearance becomes more important to more and more consumers, this is impacting the dairy sector.
Half the population is concerned about allergies, he said, and this impacts on dairy consumption with one in five people avoiding milk to some extent.
Young people and women, he said, are more likely to avoid foods they think may produce an allergic reaction, with young people, he said, were choosing alternatives to dairy due to a perception that non-dairy is healthier and decisions driven by fashion.
Another challenge, he said, facing the dairy industry is its image, with one in four people stating that they do not know enough to trust farmers entirely when it comes to milk production, while 40pc doubt the environmental sensitivities of dairy farming.
Richard Scheper, a Dairy Analyst with Rabo Research Food & Agribusiness, said that it is not a question of whether we can increase dairy production in a sustainable manner, but how it can be done according to independent.ie.
Agri Economist Ciaran Fitzgerald said how Ireland responds to the headwinds of Brexit and climate change will reflect how Ireland understands the dairy sector, he said and that indigenous Irish business sectors spend more in Ireland than Foreign Direct Investment.
He said that the Irish dairy sector spends 80-90pc of its income domestically, compared to 5-10pc of the Foreign Direct Investment sector and this should form part of the basis that dairying as a sector should be assessed on.