Dairy Product Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 1,150 dairy product manufacturers in the US produce dairy products from raw milk, processed milk, and dairy substitutes. Fluid milk products include milk of varying fat content, milk substitutes, cream, cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurt. Other major product categories are cheese and cheese-substitute products; dry, condensed, and evaporated products; creamery butter; and ice cream and frozen dessert products.
Food Safety Compliance
Dairy foods are among the most regulated foods in the US due to the fact that raw milk can contain any number of dangerous pathogenic organisms.
Declining Milk Consumption
Per capita, fluid milk consumption in the US has been trending downward for more than 70 years and fell at a faster rate during the 2010s than in each of the previous six decades.
Industry size & Structure
The average dairy product manufacturer has about 143 employees, operates a single location and generates $113 million in annual revenue.
- The industry consists of about 1,150 companies employing 165,000 workers and generating $130 billion in annual revenue.
- There are about 225 fluid milk processors employing about 55,280 workers.
- There are about 400 cheese manufacturers with 57,965 employees.
- The 400 ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturers in the US employ about 22,765 workers.
- The dairy product manufacturing industry is highly concentrated - the top 20 companies account for 51% of industry revenue.
- Large US dairy product manufacturers include Nestle USA, Dean Foods, Schreiber Foods, Land O'Lakes, and Kraft Heinz Foods.
Industry Forecast
Dairy Product Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Aug 23, 2024 - Producer Prices Rebound
- Producer prices for dairy products manufacturers rose 8.9% in July compared to a year ago after tumbling 10.6% in the previous July-versus-July comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by the industry grew 1.5% year over year in June, while average wages at dairy products manufacturers rose 5.9% over the same period to $27.19 per hour, BLS data show.
- According to Dairy Reporter, the combination of high milk prices and low commodity costs positions dairy farmers for a profitable 2024. The USDA forecasts record and above-trend yields for crops in 2024, including corn, soybeans, and wheat – all protein-rich grains that dairy farmers use to supplement cows’ diets and support milk production. Milk-over-feed margins (the difference between the price of milk and the cost of the feed to produce it) are “in the best spot they’ve been in in years” Ever.Ag commodity broker Bryce Windecker told Dairy Reporter in August. With an ample crop of corn and soybeans expected and last year’s crop still in silos, feed prices should be attractive at harvest time, creating a buying opportunity for dairy farmers.
- A new study examining which label claims and product attributes matter most to dairy shoppers finds that animal welfare ranks above sustainability and “organic” matters the least, according to Dairy Reporter. More than 3,000 consumers across five European countries (UK, Czechia, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland) were asked to rank 18 product attributes in order of importance as drivers of dairy purchases. They ranked as follows: freshness, quality and taste, animal welfare, healthy eating, nutrition, outdoor-reared/free-range, price, locally produced, fairtrade, processing, pasture-fed, sustainable packaging, food miles, special offers, carbon footprint, convenience of use, familiarity or brand, and, lastly, organic. In the US, market research by NielsenIQ and McKinsey of five years of US consumer spending data found consumers shifting spending toward products with sustainable claims in two-thirds of food categories, including cheese and yogurt, according to DR.
- Bird flu has been detected in 192 livestock herds in 13 states, the USDA reported in August, and the number of infected herds continues to grow. It’s the first time highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is highly fatal to birds, has been identified in cows. In several cases, the virus was detected in unpasteurized samples of milk collected from sick cows, The New York Times reports. Experts said pasteurization should inactivate the flu virus, and officials stressed that the US milk supply was safe. Currently, based on the information available, the USDA said it does not anticipate the outbreak will impact the availability or the price of milk or other dairy products for consumers. Infected cows were thought to be exposed to sick birds, but USDA confirmed in April that cow-to-cow transmission is a factor in the spread of bird flu in dairy herds.
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