Opportunities grow for organic dairy

According to the 2019 Global Organic Dairy Market Report released by 3 major players in organic dairy, the sector – currently worth US$ 18bn – is growing rapidly and creating new opportunities globally.

Growth in Asia

Worldwide consumption, distribution and market reach of organic dairy is increasing, and now represents 20% of all organic food and drink sales globally. The largest segment of the organic dairy market globally is liquid milk, amounting to 24% of total dairy sales. The US is the largest organic liquid milk market, accounting for more than 50% of global sales. Asia is a growing opportunity for organic dairy, with the Chinese market expected to grow to US$ 1.8bn by 2023, from its current US$ 737m. This is attributed to enhanced consumer awareness of organic benefits and higher disposable incomes. China is also the largest organic infant formula market globally, worth US$ 200m.

Most organic farmland in Oceania

The area of global organic farmland and the number of organic producers are also increasing. The global area of organic farmland has increased by approximately 15% to 57.8m hectares, and there are now 2.7m organic producers globally, which is an increase of about 13%. The greatest areas of organic land are concentrated in Oceania, which represents almost half of the global organic land area, followed by Europe (23%) and Latin America.

New markets

The reports states that the primary driver of future growth is expected to be new markets and emerging product categories, such as cheese and specialist organic dairy ingredients. Organic infant formula and organic cheese are both expected to grow significantly over the next 5 to 7 years, at 12.1% and 14% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) respectively. Also emerging sports and clinical nutrition are areas where there is growing interest in organic products. All together the forecasted global market value is expected to be US$ 28 billion by 2023. In 2010, the value was ‘only’ US$ 10.5 billion.