Over Sixties Offer Opportunities for Dairy Market Growth

 Those over the age of 65 consumed approximately 30 per cent of the volume of milk and 35 per cent of the volume of cream sold in GB in the year ending August 2016, according to Kantar data. Despite decreasing slightly since 2014, these proportions are larger than for any other age group.

The UK has an ageing population and the Office for National Statistics predict that over the next decade (from 2016) the proportion of people over 60 will increase by 22 per cent and will then account for 27 per cent of the total UK population.

Tetra Pak’s research has found that seniors (people over the age of 60) have different priorities when purchasing food and beverages than other segments of the population. Older people value high quality products while being less concerned about price. Another important factor is the value they place on a healthy lifestyle. Providing products that contain additional ingredients such as omega-3 and vitamins or, alternatively, products with reduced fat content, are likely to appeal to this group of consumers.

For British manufacturers this could be an opportunity to expand the range of higher value dairy products produced and sold. In turn, this could eventually benefit dairy farmers by reducing the quantity of milk going into commodity products and ultimately help to increase farmgate prices.

While this may be a future growth opportunity, it should be acknowledged that trends in consumer behaviour vary over time and interest in products that benefit health may not always be a priority. Consumers also tend to retain habits they have developed throughout their life and so continued product development is essential to effectively target the senior market.

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