Press Releases

2007 Dairy Promotion Budget Aims to Help Deliver ‘Unmet Demand’

PHILADELPHIA (February 27, 2007) – National, state and regional dairy producer checkoff board members recently approved a $175.2 million 2007 Unified Marketing Plan (UMP) budget that will help America’s dairy producers grow their businesses by fulfilling “unmet demand,” which is the gap between current and potential dairy product and ingredient sales.

The budget includes financial commitments from the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB) and state/regional dairy promotion organizations participating in the 2007 plan. More than 300 dairy producer checkoff directors from national, state and regional dairy promotion organizations approved the plan.

“Dairy promotion has one purpose – to drive sales of U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients,” said Gordon Hoover, a Lancaster County dairy farmer and Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association chairman. Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association is one of 18 state/regional dairy promotion organizations that helps fund the plan. “Our 2007 plan helps increase sales by focusing on innovation and industry partnerships.”

The 2007 UMP budget is allocated by strategic channels, a change from past years when budgets were allocated by product. “Our budget this year reflects our increased emphasis on partnerships with industry leaders and innovators that will lead to new dairy product introductions, new uses for dairy ingredients and new places for our products,” Hoover said.

The 2007 UMP budget increased by more than $17 million compared to 2006. This is due to the carryover of 2006 promotion funds that occurred due to 2006 production increases that exceeded industry projections, and the increased UMP funding support of participating state and regional promotion organizations in 2007.

Specific areas of strategic emphasis include:

Retail: Producer-funded efforts aim to increase sales of milk, cheese and yogurt through specific partnerships with retail chains to “reinvent the dairy aisle” in order to invigorate sales at retail.
School marketing: Dairy promotion continues its New Look of School Milk program, which brings together schools and processors to offer milk in single-serve, plastic bottles on the school meal line. Producer-funded efforts to date represent 55 million pounds of additional milk sold.
Foodservice marketing: DMI’s foodservice efforts continue to work with major restaurant chains to increase the availability of milk in single-serve, plastic bottles, and to work with pizza and quick-serve restaurant chains to increase cheese use. Checkoff-funded efforts to date represent more than 250 million pounds of additional milk sold.
Export marketing: Working through the U.S. Dairy Export Council®, producers are continuing to build international sales, including efforts to increase U.S.-produced cheese sales in Mexico. U.S. dairy exports continue to grow, representing more than 8 percent of annual domestic milk solids production.
Dairy ingredient manufacturing: DMI works closely with partners to increase the use of dairy ingredients in the food and beverage manufacturing industry. In 2007, producer-funded efforts will focus on the benefits of whey proteins to improve product taste and functionality.
Product and nutrition innovation: Producer-funded product and nutrition research continues to work with the industry to identify new milk and cheese products that meet consumer needs for convenience, packaging and taste.
Nutrition affairs: Producers are continuing their commitment to communicate dairy’s role as part of a healthy diet and the government recommendation for three servings of low- or non-fat dairy products a day. This is accomplished through ongoing efforts that reach the media and the nation’s leading health professionals, including dietitians, pediatricians, family physicians, and other doctors.

Additionally, producers are investing in dairy industry image and relations programs that include an industry-wide issues management and crisis preparedness program, and a dairy farmer image program to help maintain and build consumer confidence in dairy producers and the dairy industry.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program are the regional dairy-farmer funded promotion organizations responsible for increasing milk and dairy product demand throughout Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region. They work closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy promotion organization, to implement dairy promotion, education and research programs locally.

For more information about producer-funded checkoff programs, visit www.dairycheckoff.com or www.dairyspot.com