Dairy Products and Alternatives

In the face of rising prices, cheese consumption remains stable in retail volume terms as this product range remains a popular item in everyday cuisine. Its versatility is a key reason for such high demand, as it can be used in preparing various…

Butter and cooking fats are declining in volume terms due to growing health awareness. Considerable publicity in the media is raising awareness about the unhealthy effects of butter and fats. Health experts identified butter as one of the key…

The butter and spreads category is seeing marginal volume decline in 2023 as inflationary pressures continue to take its toll. While margarine and spreads continues to decline in retail volume terms, butter is growing moderately despite the shrinking…

Milk formula is contracting in volume terms overall due to the declining birth rate and stronger promotion of breastfeeding. Much of the latter has been facilitated by the establishment of a special association that supports breastfeeding. There is…

Baby food is witnessing marginal declines in retail volume terms, due to the falling birth rate and negative population trends in Macedonia. The declining numbers of live births to Macedonian women in recent years has limited demand for baby food,…

Retail volume sales of yoghurt saw a modest decline in 2023, albeit at a slower rate than the previous year. This was due to the fact that Slovak households still felt the full impact of high inflation and cut but back on non-essential expenditure.…

As Serbians returned to pre-pandemic lifestyles in the latter half of the review period, retail volume sales of yoghurt and sour milk was pushed into decline. In 2023, consumers are still spending more time outside of the home and are enjoying eating…

Yoghurt and sour milk products is facing the cross-category trends of value sales being driven by increased unit prices, with volume sales in a slump. The growth of average unit prices in 2023 is a consequence of high inflation, a deficit of raw milk…

Yoghurt and sour milk products registered a negative retail volume sales performance in 2023 and this can be attributed largely to the non-essential status of these products. Unlike cheese and drinking milk products, yoghurt has never been seen as an…

Plant-based dairy products continued to gain popularity in Slovakia in 2023, although the rate of growth in retail volume terms was much slower than that seen during the first half of the review period. Demand is being driven by a growing number of…

Plant-based dairy is the winner in 2023, enjoying healthy volume growth and strong value sales alike. This positive dynamic is supported by the fact that plant-based dairy in Romania is growing from a relatively small base. While plant-based dairy…

Plant-based dairy recorded a positive sales performance towards the end of the review period, although growth rates during 2022 and 2023 were considerably slower than what was registered earlier in the review period. While demand for plant-based…

Other dairy registered relatively modest growth in retail volume terms in 2023, following the declines of the previous two years. High unit prices, combined with a slowly recovering foodservice industry, following the easing of pandemic restrictions,…

The return to pre-pandemic lifestyles is encouraging on-the-go consumption of other dairy products. Retail volume sales of chilled dairy desserts and chilled snacks are both benefitting from this trend, since they are considered good snacking…

Other dairy is seeing value growth driven by price hikes associated with elevated costs, while volume is in a slump due to consumers’ weakened purchasing power in the inflationary context. Cream is the most important subcategory in other dairy, thus…

Other dairy registered static retail volume growth in 2023 as reasonably consistent demand was seen in the most important other dairy categories of cream, fromage frais and quark and chilled snacks, where the traditional product sureliai holds sway.…

Drinking milk products in Slovakia saw a sluggish performance in retail volume terms in 2023, continuing the trend of the previous year. This was partly due to high raw milk and energy costs, which had a negative impact on retail prices. This led to…

Milk production in Serbia is facing significant challenges in 2023. The decrease in the production of raw milk has led to a shortage of milk on retail shelves since the third quarter of 2022, with several Serbian regions facing a shortage of raw…

In an overarching cross-category trend, drinking milk products is seeing value growth supported by high unit prices driven by costs, alongside volume slumping in a price-sensitive environment. Indeed, unit prices at shelf level have been driven up by…

2023 saw further fluctuations in the retail volume sales performance of drinking milk products in Lithuania as demand contracted after positive growth was recorded in 2022. This followed a negative retail volume performance in 2021 after positive…