Changing channels

Dairy Field, Aug 2003 by Cook, Julie

According to Nagle, attendance at such semiriars is consistently at or near capacity, proving both milk processors and vending operators have recognized the inherent opportunities. "It's no longer just an idea or a concept; it's now a growing business that processors and a lot of other people have a real interest in," says Nagle. "It's now a matter of nursing it along."

MilkPEP's efforts certainly seem to be paying off, with double-digit increases in per capita consumption from vending machines, says Nagle. Mark Serling, director of marketing for Upstate Farms, Buffalo, N.Y., says his company participated in some of the vending trials with positive results. Consequently, Upstate has been contemplating placing vending machines in schools; colleges and universities; health care locations and mass transit stations. Serling says Upstate determined that glass front machines would be key as milk increases its vending presence because consumers will want to be able to see the product prior to buying it.

One company that doesn't expect to reap the rewards of milk vending anytime soon is LaFarge, Wis.-based Organic Valley Family of Farms. Despite the fact that the organic cooperative recently rolled out its first single-serve milk product, Teresa Marquez, marketing director, says the organic milk category is still too new and too small to be able to partake of all that vending offers. Still, she remains solid in her conviction that children are better off buying milk rather than soda from a vending machine - even if it's not organic.

Marquez believes so-called soy milk has been responsible for some erosion in the fluid milk category in recent years. And while many processors have expressed concern - and anger - over the use of the term "milk" to describe a non-dairy beverage, Nagle is far less concerned about increasing soy milk sales than he is decreasing fluid milk sales, simply because people have convinced themselves they are lactose intolerant. "Most people who decide they're lactose intolerant never talk to a physician about it," he says. "They simply diagnose themselves one day, when the real cause of their problem may be completely unrelated to lactose intolerance."

To ensure consumers don't give up drinking milk for the wrong reasons, IDFA is embarking on a major, national public relations affront, designed to educate consumers about lactose intolerance, help them determine if they truly are lactose intolerant and make sure they understand that they are still able to consume dairy products even if they have that particular problem.

If consumers are over-self-diagnosing lactose intolerance, it certainly hasn't impacted teen milk consumption. For the second year in a row, per capita milk consumption rose among teens, reaching 23.5 gallons in 2002, according to NFO WorkGroup's Share of Intake Panel data, reported by IDFA. The upward trend follows a disturbing four-year decline. "The big change is that teen boys are now continuing to drink milk as they get older and not switching to other beverages," says Kikke Riedel, assistant director of market research for IDFA. "Teen girls also are continuing to drink milk as they get older, but not yet at the same rate as boys."