French food giant Danone today (17 May) announced it is to enter the Australian market through a dairy products venture with local milk co-op Murray Goulburn. Here, just-food and Euromonitor takes a look at Australia’s fresh dairy products sector.
- 2009 saw an easing of commodity prices in milk compared with the highs recorded in 2008. This helped to provide stability in unit prices, which saw an increase from A$1.77 per litre to A$1.80 per litre over 2008-9. Additionally, value-conscious consumers purchased larger units, such as 2- and 3-litre formats in private-label products, leading to a similar rate of volume growth. More substantial increases were evident in powder milk and flavoured powder milk drinks as branded products, especially in the premium segment, which are still preferred by consumers.
- The value of yoghurt sales was forecast to have grown at a slower rate during 2009 than the preceding year, as commodity prices in dairy products and inflationary pressures remained stable compared with 2008. This resulted in slight declines in the unit prices of spoonable yoghurt, although drinking yoghurt recorded an increase due to a growing preference for functional drinking yoghurt, which are more expensive than regular drinking yoghurt products.
- Drinking yoghurt were expected to have grown by 4.5% in value terms from 2004 to 2009. Euromonitor forecast that sales would reach A$73.2m in 2009, up from A$70.6m in 2008. Spoonable yoghurt sales were predicted to grow 38.5% in value terms from 2004 to 2009. Euromonitor forecast 2009 sales at A$850.8m in 2009 – up from A$809.5m in 2008.
- Health and wellness trends continued to feature prominently in drinking milk products in 2009, which was evident in the stronger rate of growth in the semi-skimmed products in fresh/pasteurised and long-life/UHT milk, as compared with the full-fat alternatives. Fat-free milk products did not perform as strongly, despite the health benefits of zero fat content. This is because such products can be “watery”, which compromises the creaminess sought after by many consumers.
- Consumers avoided dairy-based desserts and flavoured fromage frais and quark in 2009, as such products are perceived as mainly indulgent and are high in fat, sugar or salt. This resulted in declines in current value and volume terms in these niches, as consumers turned to healthier alternatives in yoghurt. However, consumers did not move away from ice cream. Unlike dairy-based desserts and flavoured fromage frais and quark, ice cream consumption is culturally entrenched as a way of life in Australia, particularly during the summer.
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