Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO, addressed more than 600 international dairy professionals attending the World Dairy Summit this week in Daejeon, South Korea. He participated in a panel of international industry leaders for summit’s Global Leader’s Forum and discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the global dairy sector and how to meet the needs of the next generation of consumers.

He joined panelists Henrik Hauggaard, president of Tetra Pak Japan and Korea, a global food packaging company; Seon Hee Kim, CEO of Maeil Dairies Co., Ltd., a Korean dairy products company; and Minfang Lu, CEO of Mengniu Dairy; a Chinese dairy products producer. Together, they discussed their visions of the future industry and how technology will change the landscape.

U.S. Dairy 'Uniquely Positioned'

Speaking for the U.S. dairy processing industry, Dykes demonstrated that the American industry is uniquely positioned for growth and is laser-focused on reaching international consumers and expanding new markets, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. Dykes said the U.S. dairy industry is well positioned to produce a large volume of quality dairy products, in part because of breakthroughs in milk production.

He noted that American dairy producers today are milking cows that produce more than 33 percent more milk than the same number of cows did 20 years ago. One cow produced nearly 80,000 pounds of milk in a year, and Dykes said this type of production represents a growing trend of what’s to come for U.S. milk. It likely will continue to outpace domestic consumption at the same time that the world population is expected to add an additional 2 billion people over the next 30 years.

These factors will mean increased opportunities for global trade in dairy, Dykes said, but only if the right trade agreements and relationships are in place. He added that IDFA has worked closely with the U.S. administration to stress the importance of opening new markets and pursing new trade pacts.

World Dairy Summit

The World Dairy Summit, Oct. 15-19, is hosted by the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and attracts more than 2,000 international stakeholders each year to discuss the future of the global dairy industry.

Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory affairs, and John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, are also attending and participating in IDF committee meetings held in conjunction with the World Dairy Summit. IDFA will provide highlights from these meetings next week.

Follow along with live summit highlights using #idfwds2018 on social media.

For more information, contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org.