How Are Partnerships Growing Demand for Dairy?

In the dynamic restaurant world, the dairy checkoff has emerged as a pivotal force in driving innovation and demand for dairy products. Our strategic partnerships with leading restaurant chains not only amplify dairy's presence on menus nationwide but also underscore the versatility and appeal of dairy for consumers.

The average U.S. household spends nearly 60% of its food budget on meals away from home.¹

With consumers spending a large amount of their food budget on dining at restaurants, the checkoff partners with globally recognized brands to capitalize on this trend and grow dairy sales. When identifying potential partners, the checkoff doesn’t just look at the possibilities of moving dairy volume. Our team also considers strategic alignment with companies that have shared values with dairy farmers.

The impact of these collaborations is evident in the numbers. Since the inception of our partnership strategy, we've seen an astounding 7.5 billion milk equivalent pounds moved through partners such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Domino’s. This is a testament to the consumer's love for dairy and the effectiveness of our strategy in making dairy a star ingredient.

The checkoff offers expertise to our partners, including dairy food scientists who help lead innovation at these restaurant chains. These staff members are experts in offering innovative insights on menu items that highlight delicious dairy.

This success is exemplified at Taco Bell, where dairy is included on or can be added to 90% of its menu. This integration of dairy into Taco Bell's offerings reflects a broader trend across the quick-service restaurant industry, where dairy is not just an afterthought but the highlight of that food item.

Some examples of dairy-centric offerings at Taco Bell developed with support from checkoff food scientists include the Grilled Cheese Burrito and Freeze and coffee drinks that use a shelf-stable dairy creamer.

Working with and through partners has been a proven success for the national dairy checkoff, but this strategy has long been used by local checkoffs in many unique ways, too. Here are a few examples from across the country:

American Dairy Association Indiana: In 1936, three-time Indy 500® winner Louis Meyer celebrated with a bottle of buttermilk. That began an internationally known tradition that continues today and features a dairy farmer handing the winning driver a bottle of milk after their victory.  By growing the partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, dairy farming and the Winners Drink Milk® message reached more than 2 billion people during May of 2024, an increase of 263% from the previous year. Partners amplify the dairy farming story and Winners Drink Milk® messaging, which would be equivalent to $22 million in advertising. National networks NBC Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports highlight dairy farmers and the work they do to bring wholesome, nutritious milk to the world’s largest single-day sporting event.

American Dairy Association Mideast: ADA Mideast engaged five Ohio State University athletes through the name, image and likeness (NIL) program to share how dairy foods make them “Built like a Buckeye.” ADA Mideast captured comments from each athlete explaining why enjoying dairy is important to them.

The videos were shared on social media by Ohio State Athletics and the athletes during a five-week period. They generated a combined 332,350 impressions, nearly 200,000 views, and 9,500-plus social media engagements.

American Dairy Association North East: Fill a Glass with Hope® was initiated in 2015 by dairy farmers in partnership with American Dairy Association North East, Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and Feeding Pennsylvania to bring fresh milk to families in need. Funds are raised through grants, corporate and retail sponsorships and individual donors who all share a passion for feeding communities. Thanks to generous supporters, the program has distributed more than 36 million servings of fresh milk through a network of food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and feeding programs.

Dairy MAX: Dairy MAX has partnered with Rouses Markets to make nutritious dairy foods and beverages readily available on college campuses to address student food insecurity and provide nutrition support to student-athletes. This collaboration focuses on improving access to dairy foods for students, faculty, and staff at select Louisiana university food pantries while enhancing the reach and impact of dairy farmers’ contributions toward food security efforts.

Midwest Dairy: Midwest Dairy partnered with Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers to promote limited-time dairy-based programs in their restaurants throughout 2023. Freddy’s has 450 quick-service restaurants with most locations in the Midwest Dairy region.

Midwest Dairy partnered with Freddy’s last fall to develop and promote a grilled cheese steakburger paired with a pumpkin pie shake. The campaign ran from September through October and resulted in Freddy’s best-performing new product launch and limited-time offer of the year. The campaign reached 1.5 million people and generated an additional 2.2 million pounds of dairy volume.

New England Dairy: For Earth Day 2023, New England Dairy launched a sustainability campaign in partnership with Dairy Farmers of America. This campaign was focused on Massachusetts and included 2 million promotional labels on gallon and half-gallon containers, which featured a QR code directing consumers to a New England Dairy web page focusing on dairy sustainability. The campaign also included a social media strategy featuring Massachusetts dairy farmers. New England Dairy brought the Mobile Dairy Bar to three retail events, which included a DFA farmer sharing their story and answering consumers’ questions. 

The power of partnerships nationally and locally is making a difference for dairy farmers and importers. The results speak for themselves: billions of pounds of dairy moved through a dominant presence on restaurant menus and many other innovative ways that are keeping dairy front and center with consumers, now and well into the future.

Sources:

1. Food Expenditure Series, USDA, 2023