Dairy Retail performance – 22 March 2025

Cow’s milk volumes continue to decrease (-1.9%) year-on-year (NIQ, 52 w/e 22 March 2025) with a corresponding decline in spend of -3.2%, driven by a continued decline in frequency of purchase and volume purchased per trip. Declines were seen for both semi-skimmed and skimmed cow’s milk, while whole milk continued to see volume growth (+2.9%).

Cow’s cheese remains in volume growth, up 4.5% year-on-year, and spend increased by 2.8% despite average prices decreasing by 1.6% (NIQ, 52 w/e 22 March 2025). Cheddar, which represents 41.6% of all cow cheese volumes, saw a 5.8% increase in volumes. Almost all cow cheeses saw year-on-year volume growth except for British regionals and Stilton and British blue cheese that declined 1.2% and 0.2%, respectively.

Cow’s butter, at a total level, experienced a 2.5% decline in volume but a 2.9% increase in spending, which was driven by 6.1% decline in sales of butter spreads (NIQ, 52 w/e 22 March 2025). Block butter, however, continued to see volume increases of 6.8%.  Plant-based spread volumes also continued to increase (+4.3%), potentially driven by lower average prices and an increase in promotional activity.

Cow's yoghurt, yoghurt drinks and fromage frais volumes continue to grow (+6.1%), with spend increasing by 8.3% (NIQ, 52 w/e 22 March 2025).  All products saw volume growth during the period, apart from fromage frais (-10.1%). Cow’s fat free yoghurt saw the greatest actual growth with an additional 10.6bn kilos purchased year-on-year (+7.2%), while cow’s standard plain yoghurt saw the fastest growth of 24.3% year-on-year.

Cow's cream volumes grew by 1.4% year-on-year, driven by increased frequency of purchase and increased in volume per shop (NIQ, 52 w/e 22March 2025). Double and sour cream both experienced volume growth of 6.0%.

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

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