Mazoon Dairy upbeat about milk consumption trends in Oman

about the nutritional benefits of milk or the lack of variety of dairy products. The results show a need to educate and spread awareness to encourage people to drink more milk and to help with their nutritional requirements, combat calcium deficiency and help deliver the energy needed for an active lifestyle.

“Mazoon Dairy is committed to addressing this need when we launch production in the fourth quarter of 2018 – and our extensive portfolio of products promises to appeal to every segment of the population.”

Encouragingly however, the survey found that parents are doing everything they can to encourage their children to drink milk. A majority of parents said that they made it a point to encourage their child to drink milk either by pouring them a glass of milk, substituting other beverages with milk, or educating them about the benefits of milk as an ingredient in other foods like pancakes and cereals.

When it comes to overall tastes and preferences, 79 per cent of non-arab expats polled indicated that they preferred full cream fresh milk, whereas only 54 per cent Omani nationals were partial to this category. More than half of all respondents said that they preferred low fat fresh milk, which is in keeping with market demands for healthier dairy alternatives.

The survey also found that consumption of milk in the rural areas was slightly higher than in the urban areas, with 82 per cent of people in rural Oman consuming milk more regularly compared to 72 per cent in the urban centres. The popularity of long life and UHT milk is also fairly evenly distributed, with 22 per cent consuming products in the urban areas and 20 per cent in the rural areas respectively.

Meanwhile when purchasing milk, the nutritional value of milk and the added benefits of calcium emerged as the most important reasons to buy, followed by consistent taste, shelf life, availability of low fat options and wider choice. Price, easy availability and locally-sourced products also emerged as important purchase drivers.