Continued economic and political instability in the world’s biggest economies is dramatically affecting the global performance of dairy, at least at first sight, with a 9% decline in retail value sales in 2015 and continued decline in 2016.
Yet much of this decline is to do with currency exchange as several major currencies weakened against the US dollar, including the Euro, GBP, RUB, Real and CNY since 2015.
Whilst the effects of unfavourable exchange rates should not be underestimated, at least consumers are not buying less of what they eat. On the contrary, between 2015 and 2016, retail volume of overall dairy is growing and fixing exchange rates against the dollar paints a different picture with global retail sales growth of 4% in 2016.
This, in fact, is in line with overall snacks’ performance, a category once thought of as the biggest growth driver of packaged food. Consumers at last recognising dairy foods as nutritious and natural snacks is benefitting the dairy industry. As a result, many traditional snack companies are now looking to gain a foothold in dairy as a new growth generator within the health arena.