Dairy retail performance - 30 November 2024

Spend on cow’s dairy grew 0.3% year-on-year, driven by growth in average prices of 0.6% (52 w/e 30 November 2024). On a four week ending level, the Bovaer news doesn't appear to have impacted demand for dairy. 

Spend on cow's milk continues to decrease (-5.7%) and volumes declined by 1.7% year-on-year (52 w/e 30 November 2024), driven by a decrease in frequency of purchase coupled with a decrease in volume purchased per occasion. Declines were seen for both semi-skimmed and skimmed cow’s milk, while whole milk continued to see volume growth (+2.5%). 

Cow’s cheese remains in growth with volumes up 4.2% year-on-year and spend rising by 3.1% (52 w/e 30 November 2024). Cheddar, which represents 41.7% of all cow cheese volumes, saw a 4.4% increase in volumes sold. Cow cheese other also saw strong volume growth of 7.4%. 

Cow's butter, at a total level, saw a volume decline of 3.3% and a spend decline of 2.5% (52 w/e 30 November 2024), driven primarily by a decline in sales of butter spreads (-6.7%). Block butter, however, continued to see volume increases of 6.0%.  Plant-based spread volumes also continued to increase (+8.5%), potentially driven by lower average prices. 

Cow's yoghurt, yoghurt drinks and fromage frais volumes continue to grow (+6.5%), with spend increasing by 8.1% (52 w/e 30 November 2024). Healthy, Standard Plain and Standard Flavoured cow’s yogurts, which represent 38.5% of cow yogurt volumes, all showed double digit growth in both volume and spend. 

Cow's cream volumes grew by 2.2% year-on-year, primarily driven by increased frequency of purchase coupled with increased volume per shop (52 w/e 30 November 2024). Sour cream, double and crème fraiche all experienced volume growth. 

See the full data and these insights visualised on our GB household dairy purchases retail dashboard. 

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