A global trend
Value-added drinks are becoming more popular globally, and the news from Mintel that India’s share of dairy milk introductions for flavoured milks reached 43% is just another indicator of that. The rising middle class will pay more for a treat, and I suspect even those with less money see the purchase of drinkable and refreshing treats one to keep a bit of change aside for.
This is the good news about poverty as a whole. Far from being an increasing issue, the World Bank Group says that just over 900 million people globally lived under the extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day in 2012 (based on the latest available data). In 2015, just over 700m were living in extreme poverty, and this number continues to decrease, despite the fact that the world’s population continues to increase – to around 7.5 billion currently.
Projections are for the population to continue to expand to around 10bn by 2050. India is set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Currently, China has 1.4bn people while India has 1.3bn inhabitants.
The population of Africa, a diverse continent, is set to double by 2050 as well. It will also be a young population, unlike Europe. Around 60% of the African population is under 25, while in Europe, only 25% is under that age. Nigeria has the world’s fastest growing population as well.
Luckily, the dairy industry is on hand to help feed all those people, and flavoured milk drinks appeal to younger demographics. The challenge may be in supplying them without complete chill chains, but the increase in long-life, UHT products should help to ensure that people consume dairy, no matter where they are on the planet. It is a good thing.
