Stay-at-home consumers push up sales of milk and dairy products

CONSUMER preferences for staying in rather than going out have helped sustain retail sales of milk and dairy products, according to speakers at the National Dairy Council (NDC) Conference in Dublin yesterday.

Nonetheless, dairy farmers are acutely aware that the trading environment is still very challenging. While dairy sales are up, this is partly driven by the fact that supermarkets are using in-store promotions and discounts to increase consumer footfall into their stores.

NDC chief executive, Helen Brophy, says: “We have been quite lucky in some ways. The recession has hit hard, but consumption of milk and dairy products like butter and cheese didn’t fall last year, and this trend is continuing this year. There has also been an upswing in the price of milk, so the mood is quite positive among dairy farmers right now. Consumers have moved back to basics. People are entertaining at home more than they did in the boom years. It is still a challenging environment, but the confidence is coming back.

“Right now, consumers want value for money, so the supermarkets are responding with promotions to draw them into their stores. Milk and dairy are not really open to discounting.”

Ms Brophy said consumers continue to enjoy milk and dairy products, while being more discerning about what they choose to buy. While saying that 2009 was a difficult year for the grocery trade, milk and dairy are outperforming most other products.

Ms Brophy’s upbeat projections for the dairy sector were echoed by other speakers at yesterday’s conference. Tom Harper, MD of market research analysts Nielsen Ireland, said that sales in the FMCG sector are now in positive growth after 17 months of continuous decline.

Mr Harper adds: “The recession has caused a major change in Irish shopper behaviour, with 83% of consumers saying they have changed their spending habits in order to save on household costs.”