Every time a grocery shopper buys another litre of skim milk off the shelf, it tells dairy producers that nutrition is in and fat is out.
Albertans drink more than 289 million litres of milk each year. That high consumption rate is good news for the province’s 1,100 dairy farmers but the trend has shifted in the kind of milk people prefer.
Two percent milk sales decline every year while one percent milk sales increase, said a recent report from the Alberta dairy control board. The numbers used by the board are a compilation of the amount of milk coming out of Alberta processing plants.
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For the last fiscal year ending in July 1996, 126 million litres of two percent were consumed compared to five years ago when 136 million litres were used.
In 1996, Albertans drank 63.5 million litres of one percent which is up from 46 million five years before.
They are also drinking more skim milk at 33 million litres. In 1992 they drank about 26 million litres.
At the same time, consumers like dairy treats. Chocolate milk sales improve annually with less than 15 million litres consumed five years ago compared to 20 million last year. Buttermilk and eggnog also saw increased sales.
Katherine Loughlin, of the Alberta Milk Producers marketing division, said Western Canadians tend to drink more milk than Eastern Canadians. She attributes that trend to demographics because in the West the population is younger than Atlantic Canada.
Across the country, per capita milk consumption ranges from 92 to 105 litres annually.
While people are worried about dietary fat, cream sales are doing well and homogenized milk sales have stabilized at 40 million litres for Alberta. For a time fewer consumers used homogenized milk but that trend appears to have reversed since more parents have decided their children need more.
