Four months ago, if you would have asked the plant manager of the FAIRLIFE Michigan plant what they would be doing in July, ‘catching up on projects’ would not have been the answer. This FAIRLIFE plant was at capacity daily and it could barely keep up with demand. It ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with little or no down time. It was kicking out product as fast as it could, and even then grocery stores could not keep the product stocked on their shelves.

Then “The Video” came out.

Within a week of “The Video” hitting the internet, FAIRLIFE lost 20% of its market demand. The sight of a farm employee kicking a baby cow was everywhere. News outlets all over the world covered the story. It exploded all over social media, and everyone had their opinion. Influencers were emotionally sharing their thoughts, and even grandmothers were re-posting the video and talking about how awful the industry had become since she was on the farm. These were not the creation of PETA or another animal advocacy group, and consumers knew it. As Regulators in the Dairy Industry stayed silent, FAIRLIFE went into public relations crisis mode. Unfortunately, no amount of posts on their website, or ‘We are Sorry’ marketing actions can erase in consumers minds what was captured on “The Video”.

A month after I wrote my first article on FAIRLIFE, not only does the 20% reduction in consumer demand hurts FAIRLIFE financially, but it is also having a ripple effect throughout the dairy industry. For Example:

• The USDA is beginning to get barraged by comments to remove dairy from its family nutrition guilds that it publishes every few years.
• Animal advocacy groups are getting swamped with new members wanting to protect the dairy cows.
• Almond drink, or plant based ‘Milk’ producers are seeing increases in second quarter earnings, and overall the US has bad overall taste in its mouth.

There is an overall bad taste in the mouth of US consumers when they think of where their milk comes from. We are about to see a change in the dairy industry, and it will not be a good one. After four years of depressed prices, the dairy producer is about to meet their next challenge and that is public opinion and perception. Luckily, most consumers think that yogurt, butter and cheese come from a grocery store and not from a cow. These products will continue to grow, but fluid milk or milk drink products may be in for a rough time.

Food Safety has moved from a concern to assumed. Consumers are more interested in what the cow’s name is, and if they get to go outside, rather than concerned if they are drinking safe milk.

We need to do better as an industry. We need to adapt to this new consumer perception.

By Brett Roeller
Director of National Accounts, QualiTru Sampling Systems
brett@qualitru.com   Follow Brett on LinkedIn