New ‘department’ targets millennials and ‘Gen Y’

With more than half of today’s young parents trying to reduce their dairy consumption and passing this mindset on to the next generation, the UK’S dairy industry is more vulnerable than ever before.

Thatwasthemessagegiven to milk producers at the second day of the Semex Dairy Conference in Glasgow yesterday by Dr Judith Bryans, chief executive of Dairy UK, the industry’s promotional and lobbying body. However, she also outlined to the conference the thinking behind a major campaign which was launched recently by Dairy UK – and which is aimed at reversing this trend and securing new generations of milk drinkers and dairy product consumers.

Cashing in on the success of the official-looking but much parodied “Keep Calm and Carry On” wartime logo, the latest campaign will be woven around the creation of a fictitious “Department of Dairy Related Wholesome Affairs” which will produce information in a mock public service format.

Although the campaign will target all age ranges, Bryans said that it would specifically focus on the millenials and generation Y demographic of young adults who were the most likely to have moved away from consuming dairy – yet who were also the most likely to be influenced by wholesome imagery and taste.

“There is certainly an opportunity with 89 per cent of young parents believing naturalness is a cue for goodness – dairy can own this space,” Bryans told the audience.

However, although she denied that the recent antimilk campaign conducted by vegan groups had led to thenowpromotion–which had been years in the planning – she also announced a new “toolbox” of assets to help dairy producers and others interested in the trade counter negative comments and promote the healthy and wholesome image of milk and dairy products. “We’ve listened to you and we know you want to talk to people about the good nutrition in dairy,” Bryans told producers.

“We can’t turn you into nutritionists but the Dairy Council, Dairy UK and the AHDB have come together in this joint initiative to give you some tools to help you promote the nutritional benefits of dairy foods online.”

With information on how to set up social media groups, present blogs and vlogs and the provision of infographics, pictures, recipes and health guidelines, she said the “tell it like it is” initiative should harness the advantage of naturalness in both the product and those taking part.

The approach will also see tips made on the legal side of making nutrition and health claims on line – and while the promoters admit they’re not lawyers, some hints at avoiding making claims which could be disputed were also given.