Dairy Australia data: Post-lockdown consumption of milk, cheese remains high

While whole sectors such as tourism and higher education were whacked by initial lockdown restrictions exactly a year ago, dairy sales have thrived over the past coronavirus year.

Growth in cheese sales has been particularly impressive during the past year. Picture: Zoe Phillips

CORONAVIRUS cravings for thickly-buttered scones or lashings of yoghurt are set to endure as Australia enjoys post-lockdown freedom.

While whole sectors such as tourism and higher education were whacked by initial lockdown restrictions exactly a year ago, dairy sales have thrived over the past coronavirus year.

New data from Dairy Australia show shoppers nationwide made their way through 1.5 billion litres of milk in the past year — an 11 per cent jump in 2020 compared to the previous 12 months to sit at a ‘take-home’ figure of $2.67 billion.

Australian retail sales of dairy produce during the past year.

The growth in cheese sales was even more impressive. Australians ate their way through 169,000 tonnes of cheddar, feta and other cheese varieties during the 2020 calendar year.

Take-home cheese sales were up 17.5 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous 12 months, to an overall dollar figure of more than $2.4 billion.

In a recent Australian Dairy Conference forum, processors chiefs including Fonterra Australia managing director Rene Dedoncker, said the strong 2020 sales were mainly a result of increased home cooking during lockdown.

“I’m sure everyone out there in their lounge rooms and kitchens, they’ve all had a crack at their home-made pizzas and lasagnes and spag bols,” Mr Dedoncker said.

“When we eat at home we eat more protein; we certainly eat more dairy. There’s no doubt about it — whether you’ve got a double layer of butter on your scones … but I can tell you that we are using more (dairy).

“I think the thing that’s here to stay is while food service is bouncing back, when we eat at home, I think we’ve lifted our standards and therefore the retail off-take, while it won’t stay at the peak we all enjoyed, it’s inflated, it will stay at a new norm because of the habits we’ve learnt.”

Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin said his company noticed shoppers snapped up more dairy during lockdown, but other food brands under the Bega name also performed well with more meals consumed at the kitchen table.

“In a time of insecurity, people wanted (to buy) things they were familiar with, things they were secure with and that obviously helped businesses such as (Bega).

“That trend is not unique to Australia. We’ve seen that trend around the globe and it’s not a trend that seems to be fading even though we seem to be coming out of COVID.”

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