The reign of dairy milk challenged by plant-based alternatives!

🥛 You may know that two-thirds of people in North America consume dairy milk or non-dairy alternatives (like Soy, Almond, and Cashew). But, how often do they use milk and their non-dairy alternatives? which types of milk do they usually consume? In this Peekage CPG insights, you will find out consumers’ milk-related behavior and preferences.

⏰ More than 60% of milk consumers regularly use it.

• About two-fifths of consumers use milk (and non-dairy alternatives) almost daily.

• More than a third of consumers use milk (and non-dairy alternatives) weekly.

• Almost a quarter of milk (and non-dairy alternatives) consumers use them rarely.

🌰 Plant-based alternatives challenging the dairy milk’s reign

• <30% of consumers usually use dairy milk, being the top usually used milk.

• Slightly less than a quarter of consumers prefer plant-based (like soy, almond, and cashew) milk alternatives.

• Around a fifth of consumers usually use fortified milk (milk with extra vitamins and minerals).

🛒 What are the most favorites?

• Almond, oat, coconut, and soy extracts are the most consumed non-dairy milk alternatives (~85%).

• Low-fat milk (<0.5%, 2%, and 0.5-1%) is consumed by the majority (75%) of dairy milk users, compared to regular milk.

🥛 How do people consume milk and its plant-based alternatives?

• Drinking milk (or its plant-based alternatives) as a soft drink is the most common (72%) way for people to consume it.

• Adding milk (or its plant-based alternatives) to coffee/tea is the second most common (64%) way of milk consumption.

• Also, consumers use milk (or its plant-based alternatives) to make cereals (53.2%); for baking (48%); make their smoothies, milkshakes, or ice creams (47%); and cooking sauces or soups (36%).

🔝 Top-of-mind plant-based milk alternative brands

• Silk, Blue Diamond, 365 by Whole foods market, Oatly, and Califia Farms are the leading top-of-mind plant-based milk alternative brands.

🛒 ≥75% of consumers prefer glass bottles and plastic gallons

• Glass bottles (~43%) and plastic gallons or bottles (~35%) are the most preferred packaging for milk consumers.

• One in ten prefer flexible pouches, and ~13% prefer tetra packs.

💵 Average payment/month for a plant-based milk alternative: ~$21

• On average, consumers spend ~$21 per month for plant-based milk alternatives.

• ≥60% of plant-based milk alternative users spend ≤ $20 per month.

💵 Average payment/month for dairy milk: ~$29

• On average, consumers spend ~$29 per month for dairy milk.

• ~50% of dairy milk consumers spend ≤ $20 for dairy milk per month.

• Note that people buy dairy milk usually in larger volumes (gallons or multiple bottles) compared to plant-based ones (usually tetra packs), this may justify the higher average dairy milk expenditure per month despite being averagely cheaper than plant-based milk in the same quantities.

👦🏼🧓 Age differences

• Regular consumption of milk (and non-dairy alternatives), i.e., daily or ≥ 3 times a week, was more common (≥47%) among 20-30 and 60-80 age groups, compared to other age groups (≤40%).

• Consumers ≤ 40 years consume less dairy milk (<30%) but more plant-based (~25%), fortified (~18%), and lactose-free (~15%) compared to other age groups.

• Consumers ≥ 60 years consume significantly more dairy (>40%) than the other groups.

• Plant-based milk substitutes are more consumed among the 20-30 years age group (≥25%).

♀️ ♂️ Gender differences

• Women consume dairy milk (~30%) and plant-based (~25%) alternatives more than men, while men consume more lactose-free (~17%) and fortified (~22%) milk than women.

🗺️ Where are the regular milk consumers?

• Wisconsin, Florida, New York, California, and Pennsylvania are the top five states with regular milk consumers.

• Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Vermont have the fewest number of regular milk consumers.

Do you want to read more CPG insights? Check out Peekage’s blog!

🔑 Highlights

• 67% of people in North America consume dairy milk or non-dairy alternatives (like soy, oat, almond, and cashew).

• Dairy milk is still the top consumed milk, being usually used by ~29% of consumers, while ~24% favor plant-based alternatives.

• ~39% of consumers use milk (and non-dairy alternatives) daily, 37% weekly, and 25% only sometimes.

• Low-fat milk (<0.5%, 2%, and 0.5-1%) is consumed by the majority (75%) of dairy milk users, compared to regular milk.

• Almond (~36%), oat (~21%), coconut (~14%), and soy (~13%) extracts are the most consumed non-dairy alternatives (~85%).

• Glass bottles (~43%) and plastic gallons or bottles (~35%) are the most preferred packaging for milk consumers.

• Wisconsin, Florida, New York, California, and Pennsylvania are the top five states with regular milk consumers.

• On average, consumers spend ~$21 per week for plant-based milk alternatives, while they spend ~$29 per week for dairy milk. Note that people buy dairy milk usually in larger volumes (gallons or multiple bottles) compared to plant-based ones (usually tetra packs), this may justify the higher average dairy milk expenditure per month despite being averagely cheaper than plant-based milk in the same quantities.

• Women consume dairy milk (~30%) and plant-based (~25%) alternatives more than men, while men consume more lactose-free (~17%) and fortified (~22%) milk than women.

• Consumers ≤ 40 years consume less dairy milk (<30%) but more plant-based (~25%), fortified (~18%), and lactose-free (~15%) compared to other age groups.

• Consumers ≥ 60 years consume significantly more dairy (>40%) than the other groups.

• Plant-based milk substitutes are more consumed among the 20-30 years age group (≥25%).

• Silk, Blue Diamond, 365 by Whole foods market, Oatly, and Califia Farms are the leading top-of-mind plant-based milk alternative brands.

About Peekage

Peekage is an insightful product testing platform that provides affordable and fast consumer insights for CPG brands by collecting data through targeted at-home product testing and retail sampling.

Marketing teams leverage Peekage to boost awareness, drive sales, and increase retail velocity, and product and innovation teams use Peekage to run deep in-home product testing to optimize products, packaging, positioning, and messaging.