Read the latest issue of The Dairy Bar, a bi-weekly report from IDFA partner Ever.Ag. The Dairy Bar features spotlight data, key policy updates, and a one-minute video that covers timely topics for the dairy industry.
The Dairy Bar: Dairy Delivers for the American Economy; Consumer Fitness Spending; and Butter Markets in a Minute!
Quick Bites: Consumers Still Spending on Fitness
- People are pulling back on their spending in certain areas, but healthy activities may not be one of them. Data tracked by Placer.Ai indicates that wellness trends appear to have stamina amid economic uncertainty.
- Fitness facility traffic has been on an upward trajectory since locations reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic shut-downs. First quarter visits were up 15.5% compared to the same period in 2019. Fitness center use tends to peak early in the year as people try to stick to those New Year’s resolutions. But the Placer.AI data shows higher highs and higher lows in traffic since late 2022.
- In fact, two fitness chains made Placer’s top 10 list for improved customer traffic in April. Visits were up 10% at Crunch Fitness year-over-year, and traffic at LA Fitness was 9% higher compared to the same month in 2024. Since Placer started tracking this data in May 2024, at least one fitness chain has been on the list for 12 of the 13 months.
- People seem willing to spend on health food products as well. Data from Circana revealed sales of ready-to-drink beverages were up 13% year-over-year during the first quarter. Ready-to-mix products were up 11%. This is good news for dairy, as many of these products include whey, milk protein concentrates, or milk protein isolates. People still value the benefit of protein, and dairy – in many forms – is a solid source of that!
Today's Special
- June is the month when we shine a spotlight on all things dairy. At the core of the industry are 24,000 dairy farms scattered from coast to coast.
- In addition to the people working hard every day to care for animals and crops on these farms, there are many more individuals working to transport, process and deliver dairy products to consumers. According to IDFA’s 2025 Dairy Delivers ® report, the dairy industry supports more than 3 million jobs and $198 billion in wages. In all, dairy contributes more than $779 billion to the U.S. economy each year.
- The average American consumes 661 pounds of dairy products annually. That’s over 100 pounds of dairy more than was eaten per person nearly 50 years ago. Back in 1975, USDA recorded that Americans were consuming 539 pounds of dairy on a milk-fat basis.
- Our eating habits have changed over time. In 1975, U.S. consumers drank their dairy, enjoying 247 pounds of milk per year. Today, that total has plummeted to 128 pounds of fluid milk. Americans are now eating their dairy instead – a lot of it in the form of cheese. Fifty years ago, consumption was less than 20 pounds of cheese per capita. Nowadays, Americans are enjoying twice that amount – more than 40 pounds annually.
- Today, U.S. cheese is consumed around the globe. USDA’s most recent trade data showed U.S. cheese exports had another stellar month in April with 109 million pounds shipped, up slightly from March and 7% above April 2024 levels. Some of the main cheese destinations include Mexico (38.4 million pounds), Japan (12.4 million pounds), South Korea (12.0 million pounds) and Australia (7.5 million pounds).
- Year-to-date through April, U.S. cheese exports reached a record 420 million pounds. A weaker U.S. dollar keeps American-made cheese and other dairy products competitive on the global market and helps boost export demand. Export sales are an important customer for the U.S. dairy industry, so that is something to celebrate this June Dairy Month.