Exports are a demand-pull phenomenon, and demand has been good. U.S. milk equivalent exports from January to July were record high, up 19.5% from 2017.
They might not be sold hot, but ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee and tea are sizzling when it comes to U.S. sales. Dollar sales for the convenience-minded category jumped 5.1% during the 52 weeks ending Aug. 12, 2018, to reach $6.3 billion, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.
In the frozen dessert market, ice cream typically reigns supreme among consumers who are looking to indulge in a treat. But even ice cream sales are struggling.
On May 31, Mexico announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. cheese, and then on June 16, China announced retaliatory tariffs against most U.S. dairy products.
To appeal to today’s consumers, producers of refrigerated and frozen desserts are creating products with premium and simple ingredients, often in convenient and single-serve formats. But they also need to meet consumers’ desire for indulgence
Consumers still love eating ice cream and other frozen and refrigerated desserts, but now many are looking for cleaner versions of their favorite treats. Alongside this, even those who desire to eat healthfully still don't want to give up the indulgence factor.
Dollar sales in the ice cream/sherbet category rose 2.2% during the 52 weeks ending April 22, 2018, to $6.9 billion, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI. Unit sales increased 1.6% to 1.8 billion.
The picture appears to be a little less than rosy for the refrigerated juices/drinks category. For the 52 weeks ending March 25, 2018, dollar sales in the category fell 1.1% to $6.6 billion, while unit sales declined by 2.1% to 2.2 billion, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.
Sales of refrigerated yogurt, cottage cheese and kefir slide. Meanwhile, cream cheese and sour cream fare better, and shelf-stable yogurt/yogurt drinks take off.
The cultured dairy segment is seeing its ups and downs. Yogurt, once the driving force, has seen sales struggle of late. Concurrently, other cultured categories such as cream cheese and sour cream are holding their ground or trying to push ahead.
A new report by New York-based Nielsen shows that store brand sales jumped by nearly 10% in 2017 in mass merchandisers, club stores and dollar stores, while the mass channel came closer than ever before to overtaking traditional supermarkets as the place where consumers buy their groceries.
While processed cheese struggled, dollar and unit sales for cubed, shredded and refrigerated grated natural cheeses rose
April 3, 2018
Natural cheese continues to dominate in the cheese category. The natural cheese category showed dollar sales up 0.3% to $12.9 billion, while unit sales stayed at $3.9 billion, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2017.