Hope everyone had a good bank holiday in the UK. The UK’s Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) says the British dairy herd contracted 2.2% in the 12 months ending 1 July 2026, while milk deliveries increased 3% to 12,931 million litres in the same time frame. Currently, the herd amounts to 1.57 million head. It is the largest annual decline since January 2021. This shows that despite a decrease in the size of the dairy herd, efficiency and productivity improvements have contributed to an increase in production, according to the organisation.

Fewer cows producing more milk, which is not a bad thing, perhaps. Fewer mouths to feed mean less silage to find. Milk production volume saw a 1.3% decline year-on-year, but the spending was up by 1.2%. We are buying less milk overall but in higher value added products, it seems.

We are also moving on from lowfat products, which I am quite happy with. Whole milk sales saw an uptick of 1.4%, as consumers discover the benefits of full-fat products in dairy. In the cheese segment, cottage cheese continues to storm ahead, with a 43% volume increase year-on-year and the consumer’s need for snacking cheese also increased by 3.5%.

The AHDB also reported upticks in cows’ yogurt, yogurt drinks and fromage frais volume growth by 7.1%, with the spending also increasing by 9.3% year-on-year. Cows’ standard plain yogurt (+19.7%), healthy (+15.1%) and fat free (+9.7%) were among the strongest performing subcategories, the AHDB points out.

However, this growth offset declines in Stilton and British blue, British regionals and cheddar. Cheddar saw a decrease of 839kg due to a decrease in buyers. Extra mature slices (-16.1%), reduced fat/functional (-12.7%) and grated mild (-11.6%) also saw large declines.

It is an overall interesting set of numbers as the summer ends in the northern hemisphere.

https://ahdb.org.uk/news/consumer-insight-dairy-retail-performance-8-august-2026