Milk sales were down by more than a billion dollars in 2018, while the market for plant milk alternatives keeps growing

Your oat milk obsession is hurting America’s dairy industry, you monsters: The Dairy Farmers of America, which represents roughly 30 percent of milk producers in the U.S., revealed this month that its total sales 2018 had dropped by roughly $1.1 billion dollars compared to the previous year. The organization attributes the drop in net sales to a $1.45 decrease in the average price of milk year-over-year, but the billion dollar dip may also point to the rise of oat, nut, soy, and other alternative “milk” products at third-wave coffee shops, and later, grocery stores across the country.

Options like almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk, and hemp milk are beginning to demand more and more space on grocery store shelves as consumers have grown to embrace new flavors and vegan diets. Sales of nut and plant milks grew by 9 percent in 2018 and raked in $1.6 billion dollars, according to the Plant Based Foods Association. (That’s a relatively small slice of the overall milk market, but still significant growth given that sales for regular, old dairy milk in the U.S. have been on a downward trajectory for nearly 10 years now.)

Consumer thirst for oat milk was apparently so strong in 2018 that it lead to a shortage and an online Oatly marketplace where cases of the product sold for $200 or more. The demand for milk alternatives has spurred a number of other startups selling non-dairy milks, including some made from fermented yeast.

Meanwhile, the dairy industry has shown signs of discomfort with plant milk makers encroaching on its lactose territory. Trade groups for the dairy industry are fighting to get the Food and Drug Administration to prevent non-dairy options from using the term “milk” on labels. Outgoing FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb seemed willing to consider the idea. A Ninth Circuit court, however, disagreed and ruled in 2018 that almond milk is unlikely to be confused with dairy milk.

The milk industry may be in facing a challenging future in supermarket refrigerator aisles, but one corner of the traditional dairy market is still bright: Americans are living in a flavored coffee creamer renaissance.

• Don’t Cry, But Milk Sales Plummeted By $1.1 Billion Last Year [Fast Company]

• The Milk of the Future Could Be Made Without Cows [E]

• How Cow’s Milk Went From a Basic Beverage to a Dismissed Drink [E]

• “Fake Milk”: Why the Dairy Industry Is Boiling Over Plant-Based Milks [Vox]