Dairy Products Profile
Revised November, 2021.
Overview
Only about one-third of the U.S. milk supply is actually processed into milk and cream products; the remaining two-thirds of the milk supply is used to manufacture a wide range of dairy products. Sales of these dairy products, such as butter, ice cream and yogurt, account for tens of billions of dollars annually in the United States. Producers can capture a part of that billion-dollar market by processing and selling their own line of value-added dairy products manufactured on their farms.
Processing
The United States had 1,266 dairy product manufacturing plants in 2019, down 60 plants from 2017. With 199 dairy product plants, Wisconsin continued to support the most plants in any state. Other leading dairy processing states were New York with 123 plants and California with 114 plants.
Value-added Products
Butter
U.S. butter production in 2019 totaled 1.99 billion pounds, 1.3 percent above 2018. More than half of the butter came from cream not needed when milk was used for fluid milk or cheese.
Frozen Desserts
There are just over 400 ice cream processing plants in the United States. The table below shows the amount of regular ice cream, lowfat ice cream, frozen yogurt and sherbet produced that year. While the amount of regular ice cream and sherbet declined from the previous year, the amount of frozen yogurt jumped by double digits.
Frozen Dessert Production
| Frozen Dessert | 2011 U.S. Production, in million gallons |
|---|---|
| Ice Cream, Regular | 861 |
| Ice Cream, Lowfat | 465 |
| Sherbet | 42.7 |
| Frozen Yogurt | 62.1 |
Source: NASS, 2020.
Sour Cream
Total sour cream production in the United States was 1.4 billion pounds in 2019, about the same as 2017.
Yogurt
Yogurt production in 2019 totaled 4.4 billion pounds.
Yogurt is being touted as a healthy or functional food due to probiotics. According to Dairy Management Inc., probiotics “are key ingredients in any product promoting digestive health.” About 80 percent of the yogurt manufactured in the United States contains Lactobacillus acidophilus. The Bifidobacterium strain is also found in dairy products.
Yogurt is now being incorporated into other products. General Mills', Kellogg's and Quaker Oats sell cereals containing yogurt. McDonald's and Wendy's offer yogurt-based products on their menu. Purina has introduced dog and cat foods containing yogurt. Yogurt has also been added to toothpaste, mouthwash, facial masks and suntan products.
Sources
Dairy Products Annual Summary, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA.
National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), 2020.
USDA, 2020
Dairy Consumption, USDA, 2020
