Drinking yoghurt is dairy world champion

Dairy food and drink is one of the fastest-growing sectors of world trade, according to market surveyors ACNielsen Global Services in an announcement made at the Anuga food fair in Germany.

Overall champion in the league is drinking yogurt, with a 10% increase in earnings from sales in the 49 largest national markets and an 18% increase worldwide in 2006 compared with the previous year. The most dramatic rise in drinking yogurt sales were in China: an increase in cash turnover of 49% on the year. But no country recorded a decrease in earnings from this product, largely because, says Nielsen, it meets the three main demands for food in modern marketing: it has a wide variety of acceptable flavours, unarguable health and wellness benefits, and is presented and packaged in a way that make it practical for consuming on-the-go.
Global dairy product sales grew 2% to reach US$64 billion by mid-2006, said Nielsen.
Another highlight of dairy product sales is said to be prepacked sliced cheeses in Germany. The continuing boom in self-service as well as cheese popularity mean that sales for such products have risen by 76% since 2000.