Dairy retail performance in the UK - 2 November 2024

Growth in average prices (+0.5%) was not quite enough to balance volume losses as spend on cow’s dairy declined 0.1% according to Nielsen. Spend on cow's milk continues to decrease (-6.3%) and volumes declined by 1.8% year-on-year (52 w/e 2 November 2024). Semi-skimmed cow’s milk accounts for 59.6% of volume sales but contributed most to the decline, while whole milk continued to see growth (+2.3%), driven by an increase in buyers as well as an increase in purchase frequency. Cow’s cheese remains in growth with volumes up 3.8% year-on-year, and spend to rising by 3.2% (NIQ Homescan POD, Total GB). Cheddar saw a 4.1% increase in volumes sold driven by an increase in volume per shop up 2.9%. This drove cow’s cheese performance as cheddar accounts for 41.7% of all cow cheese sold. Cow cheese other also saw strong growth driven by cottage cheese. Cow's butter saw a volume decline of 3.5%, despite a decrease of average prices (-0.2%). However, block butter saw volumes increase by 6.0%. ...