54% of under-45s are interested in milk drinks with exciting textures, revealing scope for milk to move beyond its traditional role and compete in the growing market for multisensory drink experiences.
54% of under-45s are interested in milk drinks with exciting textures, revealing scope for milk to move beyond its traditional role and compete in the growing market for multisensory drink experiences. This points to NPD opportunities. However, providing inspiration for visually striking and texturally engaging milk-based creations, such as drinkable desserts, offers a lower-cost route to driving relevance and usage.
Weak consumer confidence supports demand by encouraging at-home occasions, helping to offset scrutiny on grocery budgets. However, as household finances improve, competition from cafés and other out-of-home venues will intensify. This sees value growth increasingly rely on premiumisation as inflationary support fades.
Functionality offers one of milk’s clearest routes to growth. From healthy ageing and children’s wellbeing to beauty-from-within and mood support, brands can build on milk’s nutritional strengths to create added-value propositions that support relevance across life stages.
Milk’s traditional usage occasions face long-term decline. Consumption of tea and breakfast cereals continues to fall, while demographic shifts add further pressure to volumes. To offset these headwinds, brands will need to strengthen milk’s relevance across a broader range of occasions, life stages and need states.
This Report examines the UK retail market for milk and milk drinks, including products sold via doorstop delivery as well as retail outlets. Sales of milk within the catering and industrial sectors, as well as welfare milk supplies, are excluded, though reference may be made to these where relevant.
The market size definition includes:
Excluded:
Under EU and UK regulation, plant-based products cannot be called by dairy-style names such as milk in marketing or on-pack, with the exceptions of coconut milk and almond milk. However, the term ‘plant-based milk’ was used in the consumer survey for this Report to refer to plant-based milk alternatives, as likely to be best understood by respondents.
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