Presenters Show Opportunities For Dairy In Leading Food Trends
Quality ingredients and targeted nutrition are among the top food and beverage trends in 2025 that offer opportunities for dairy product innovation, according to presenters from Innova Market Insights during the American Dairy Products Institute/American Butter Institute (ADPI/ABI) Annual Conference held in Chicago on April 27-29, 2025.
The commercial session on “Dairy Products Trends, Trials and Tribulations” was presented by Trevor Riebling, Innova’s head of enterprise accounts in North America, and Tom Vierhile, Innova’s vice president strategic insights.
Out of Innova’s “Top 10 Food & Beverage Trends, 2025,” Riebling and Vierhile focused on six key trends that matter most for dairy: Ingredients and Beyond, Precision Wellness, Flourish from Within, Climate Adaptation, Taste the Glow and Mindful Choices.
Elevating Dairy With Quality
For Ingredients and Beyond, which also ranked No. 1 in Innova’s 2025 food and beverage trend list, the presenters emphasized that as the demand for added value becomes standard, elevating quality beyond ingredients is key.
To take advantage of this trend, dairy companies must come up with a way to stand out beyond finding the star ingredient and develop a coherent narrative around quality.
“The quality of product is the most important factor for consumers in food and beverage brands,” the presenters explained.
Following this trend, they noted that high-protein products are emerging everywhere, from yogurt and ice cream to protein bars. Leading subcategories for the number of launches of high-protein products include sports powders, bread and bread products, and sweet pastries.
“Dairy is among the leading growth categories for innovation in products containing protein ingredients,” they said, adding that one-third of U.S. consumers use cheese as a source of protein as an alternative to meat.
Examples of products meeting this need, they said, include Hiland Pro Pack Snack Low Fat Cottage Cheese, with 12 grams of protein per serving, and Farm Rich Grilled Cheese Style Bits, with 9 grams of protein per serving.
In addition to protein, consumers also are seeking quality in the naturalness and inherent goodness of their foods, from “no artificial ingredients” claims to healthier nutritional profiles. Innova noted that almost one in three U.S. consumers would reduce their dairy consumption due to artificial ingredients in processed dairy products.
Age-Specific And Condition-Focused Nutrition
Innova ranks Precision Wellness as the No. 2 trend for 2025, and the presenters highlighted age-specific nutrition as a targeted approach for dairy products. In 2024, there was a 24% year-over-year growth in global dairy launches with a claim specific to children (5-12 years) , and Gen X and Baby Boomers also are key targets for age-specific nutrition, the presenters said.
Other precision wellness areas that work well with dairy include weight management and condition-specific nutrition. Innova reported a 38% year-over-year growth in 2024 global new dairy launches tracked with a weight management claim, and a 16% year-over-year growth of dairy launches with a lactose-free claim. Consumers selected bone or joint health (48%), protein intake (43%) and digestive health (37%) as key health-related reasons for maintaining dairy consumption, according to a 2024 Innova survey.
Digestive And Gut Health
Digestive/gut health makes up its own key trend for food and beverage in Innova’s 2025 list, particularly desirable for older generations. The presenters pointed to marketing for Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Yogurt, which advertises “Great Taste. Easy on your Stomach.” They also pointed to growth in new snack products with a probiotic inclusion.
Sustainability And Animal Welfare
Sustainability and animal welfare is another top 10 trend, and the presenters noted that the dairy industry is adopting various sustainable practices to reduce environmental impact, as well as advancing efforts toward animal welfare in dairy farming. They also highlighted the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) in tracking farm data in areas such as cow health and managing methane emissions.
Beauty-Enhancing Dairy Products
“Taste the Glow” is a trend driven by a booming cosmetic industry, now bringing beauty-enhancing features into food. The presenters noted that one in five consumers globally have purchased food and beverage to “improve physical appearance/beauty” in the last year, with top opportunity areas including facial skin, hair and body skin. There has been a 21% average annual growth in new dairy launches with a skin health claim from 2022-2024, they added. One product example they pointed to was Lifeway’s recently launched Probiotic Smoothie + Collagen line with claims to support skin hydration, elasticity, smoothness and joint health.
Mental And Emotional Well-being
The final top 10 trend the presenters tied to dairy opportunity was Mindful Choices, noting that as consumers prioritize their mental and emotional well-being, brands are crafting innovations that connect with their feelings.
This is a newer trend in the food and beverage realm, as the presenters explained consumers pay high attention to their mental health, with 36% saying that feeling mentally/emotionally well is their primary health goal. However, there still is low association between mental health and functional food and beverages among consumers, according to Innova.
Among a variety of strategies consumers adopt to feel mentally well, three present good opportunities for dairy: getting more sleep, making changes to diet/nutrition, and participating in a calming and distressing activity.
The presenters highlighted two dairy brands that have tapped into consumer desire for better sleep, both in the Asian market. Meiji last year launched a functional milk that contains crocetin and tryptophan to support vision and sleep. Meanwhile, Nestlé China also last year launched a new milk powder, made from a blend of bioactive ingredients such as tryptophan, vitamin B and magnesium, developed to promote sleep quality.
“Thirty-six percent of consumers globally say getting more sleep is a way that they are improving their mental or emotional well-being,” the presenters noted.
Additional Resources And Trend Reports
More information on Innova’s trend reports is available at www.innovamarketinsights.com/reports/.
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Source: Cheese Market News
