USA: Dairy product sales poised to grow

Dairy product sales should grow in 2024, led by natural cheese, butter and yogurt, says Corey Geiger, lead dairy economist for CoBank. However, that growth will be at a slightly slower pace than in 2023. “U.S. consumers will be pressured by reduced household savings, growing credit card debt, the return to making monthly student loan payments and higher interest rates,” Geiger says. While growth in dairy sales could be lukewarm, the dairy aisle remains the largest sales category in U.S. grocery stores at over $78 billion in annual sales, based on Circana sales data. Per-capita consumption of all dairy products in the U.S. reached 653 pounds per person in 2022. “That’s 114 pounds, or 21%, above the historical average dating back to 1975,” Geiger notes. According to USDA data, overall dairy consumption in 2022 was the second-highest total on record. In 2022, U.S. per-capita cheese consumption pushed past 40 pounds per person for the first time. Mozzarella, the pizza cheese, ranks ...