It’s making a difference!

We are well on our way to achieving them! We create encounters between experts, influencers, opinion leaders and the industry, and encourage the conversation through our podcast, by hosting panel events, or recently at the International Green Week trade fair. Consumers are responding very positively to our open approach.

So many things! A survey in late 2022 showed how milk is gaining approval as a regional product and a healthy source of nutrition. That is largely due to the fact that the industry has shown its reliability during the past year, amid all the crises we have seen. And also the way the industry is tackling the issue of sustainability. The Initiative Milch is directly addressing issues like the circular economy and planetary health. In January, Germany’s FAZ am Sonntag newspaper wrote, “The cow (...), which had fallen into disrepute as a climate killer, is now finding fans again.” That really is support for the circular economy. Also, young people have really embraced our podcast. Even author Sascha Lobo talked about us in the summer of 2022. But my personal highlight was the Berlin Food Week and how well our stand did, even alongside lots of vegan offerings. In total, all the people who stopped by drank a total of 210 liters of ayran, a savory yoghurt drink. They really liked it and we had a lot of great conversations. Many people found out a lot of new things and were impressed at the modern world of milk.

Direct reactions from the public, whether positive or negative, still have a really big impact on me. People send thank-you letters because they are grateful we are promoting their milk. Other people send hate mail. I do worry about the attitude coming from activists. It’s something we see in other parts of society too, and it’s something the dairy industry has to deal with. Basically, we can say that there’s still a lot of interest. There are also trolls on social media, or animal welfare groups that watch us and comment on what we do, or media that criticize what we do in discussions about these issues.

At the International Green Week, visitors left around 180 messages for us in the Voicebox feedback booth. Very few of them were about not eating animal products any more. Most of them talked about what milk means to them, or what matters to them when it comes to dairy farming. We can work with that and we can also respond to critical questions. At Berlin Food Week, there was one young man who talked about how he is sometimes vegan, but said how delicious our ayran looked and could he try some please? That’s how it should be, a respectful exchange without anyone being dogmatic and taking pleasure in something that tastes good.

If you look at the statistics, that is the case in many places. The proportion of people who are exclusively vegan is around 4 percent, and that doesn’t change much. The majority of people like to try new products and are embracing a combination of dairy food and plant-based alternatives. Most people are not prepared to give up cheese. In January, we asked 500 consumers at the rheingold salon what they thought, and the vast majority said they would still be consuming milk in ten years’ time.