Background: Cow’s milk is the fundamental food source of dairy products. The concentration of fat and other components in the final food is routinely altered during dairy food processing, led by consumer demand.
Objective: To describe the domestic market trends in dairy foods, the distribution of Australian dairy foods to international markets.
Method: Product specific time series information from supermarket sales and dairy industry export destination information was used to describe the changing demand for Australian dairy foods and ingredients.
Results: Total per capita milk intake in Australia has remained steady over the past 25 years while whole milk intake has fallen to 60% of total intake. Cheese intake has increased by about 3.5kg (or 40%). The market for total table spreads has contracted, with the dairy spreads share increasing over the past decade to above 40%. About 40% of butter or anyhydrous milk fat is exported as a percentage of total dollar value produced - compared to about 45% of total milk equivalent production exported. Yogurt and flavoured milk shows an increasing trend.
Conclusion: Australian population dairy food intake over the past 25 years is steady or shows an increasing trend. The increasing consumer demand for fat reduced dairy foods (especially milk) has resulted in a redistribution of dairy fat within the food supply rather than its removal.