We should milk the positives for all they are worth

Comment Brian Henderson

Now, I might have been in the minority in never taking to her, but there was a comedy show character a few years ago with the catchphrase “am I bovvered?”

The epitome of a stroppy teenager, Catherine Tate’s creation, Lauren Cooper, would utter the phrase whenever she was embarrassed or annoyed, regardless of whether or not she was actually bovvered.

And I got a hint of the same sort of sentiment at last week’s big dairy conference in Glasgow. For while nobody seemed to want to give the issue the oxygen of publicity, it was clear that there were some serious concerns about the impact which the hardhitting vegan campaign aimed at putting people off milk and other dairy products was having on the sector.

For, while milk might have escaped the earlier attacks from vegetarian pressure groups, the sector has been increasingly targeted by the growing vegan lobby in recent years.

But while it was accepted that the issue had to be addressed, it was stressed by several of the speakers that – rather than tackling this vociferous minority head on – it would be far more productive to focus on delivering a positive message to the vast bulk of consumers who still had an open mind.

To emphasise this point, one of the speakers, the ebullient Dr Jude Capper, a livestock sustainability consultant with a quickfire stage delivery, pointed out that although the vegan movement in the UK had grown by 261 per cent between 2006 and 2016, they still only totalled around half a million people – less than 1 per cent of the country’s population.

But, in a variation of the old joke – Q. “How do you know if someone is a vegan?” A. “Don’t worry, they’ll soon tell you” – Capper said there was no getting away from the fact that they had very loud voices and were very keen to put their message over.

So presenting an “am I bovvered” face to the groups and concentrating on pushing the positives to people willing to listen might be the best approach – for it’s pretty clear that the dairy industry won’t win the argument by getting involved in a slanging match. As someone else put it, these “born-again veggies” aren’t going to be persuaded that the philosophy of veganism has serious problems. So getting the message that the dairy industry does truly care about producing a safe, nutritious, wholesome, high-welfare foodstuff while looking after the environment over to the bulk of buyers who are willing to listen to a rational argument will be crucial.

But of course advertising and public relations campaigns tend to cost money – especially high-impact ones which require a lot of exposure.

And there certainly isn’t a lot of that kicking about on the farming side of the equation at the moment – especially with another round of milk price cuts under way.

It was interesting to see this from a different perspective, though – and a report on the issue on a vegan website accused the dairy industry of falling back on its main weapon on this front: money.

But even with unlimited cash it could be difficult to pull ahead, if, as one speaker pointed out, it is the case that for every negative piece of information which is put out there, five positive ones are required to counteract it.

However, the industry has one trump card in its hand which it should never forget to play. While health and nutrition are probably key factors in promoting consumption, most people don’t actually drink milk or consume dairy products for that reason.

No, people do that because the stuff tastes so good – and it would pay never to forget this simple fact. And despite the power of the graphic campaigns against the industry, surely this is the one factor which should lie at the core of all the industry’s attempts to ensure a future for the dairy sector?

Maybe I should be careful what I say, though – because when I was on the vegan website I did notice that they have a habit of republishing parts of articles which defend the dairy industry – whether in the mainstream media or the farming papers – and then criticising and ridiculing the author.

But as Lauren would no doubt say, am I bovvered?