Buying dairy products in 2025

While milk and dairy products are a key example of staple products becoming commoditised, a growing number of shoppers – and conscientious farmers and producers – are taking great strides in making options available for those who have a thirst for better.
Fine food shoppers are a key audience here, meaning that by stocking ethically-produced, high quality dairy products, you can be confident that you’re not only giving your customers what they want but supporting the future of dairy farming, too.

What are shoppers looking for in 2025? “In short; nutritious, nature friendly and British without compromising on taste and quality!” says Leona McDonald of Golden Hooves.
“Shoppers are looking for more sustainable foods, but in particular for brands that demonstrate sustainable practices such as regenerative farming, transparent supply chains and ethical sourcing. From our recent survey, biodiversity and animal welfare came out on top for what really matters to consumers when considering the environmental impact of their food. That’s why our farmers are working with nature and creating homely habitats to help nature thrive above and below ground. They are nature’s heroes!”

“Fine food shoppers want to feel good about the purchases they make, so they’re looking for good animal welfare and produce that has positive benefits for their health and the health of the planet,” says David Finlay of The Ethical Dairy. “Obviously, they’re looking for dairy products that taste great too, but we are very much finding that fine food shoppers are also driven by values. The story behind the product matters a great deal, and that story must be simple yet powerful.”

Telling the story of farm to fridge has proven successful across other fine food sectors – cheese being a clear example – bringing an opportunity to support local businesses doing things right as well as supporting retailers’ bottom lines; taking spend away from mass-produced dairy products and towards positive change. “People are much more knowledgeable about the impact their purchases have on the environment and on the animals within food systems. Social media has pulled back the curtain on industrial farming practices, showing shoppers realities they never previously knew existed,” he continues.

While steps in an eco-friendly direction are certainly to be celebrated, all in the sector need to be conscious of exaggerated claims and the impact they have across the board. “With that awareness comes, for many, a desire for the impact of their purchases to be positive. But people have a healthy degree of scepticism too, they are increasingly wary of greenwashing,” says David. “So, I think the onus is on us as food producers to demonstrate integrity and transparency in the claims we make, to build trust and to build relationships with the people who buy our products.”

“Food miles and provenance is a huge selling factor for the modern customer, and we focus a lot of our time telling our customers that about how we produce our products all on our own farm within 24 hours and we strive to provide the highest quality and fresh products available,” begins Henry Cooke, founder of Clotton Creamery – producer of a range of dairy products, including a uniquely Northern clotted cream, based on a dairy farm in Cheshire.

With long, unpronounceable ingredients lists becoming increasingly unappealing to today’s shopper, the simplicity of the range ticks fine food shoppers’ boxes. “Simplicity can be overstated at times when looking at a lot of products on the market,” says Henry, “and we make our products with only a few simple ingredients – no nasties! Consumers also want to know where their food comes from so we try to be as transparent as possible as we certainly have nothing to hide and I think that really resonates with our customer base.”

The health benefits present in quality dairy also offer a sales tool for retailers. “It feels there’s been a real re-awakening of the natural benefits of dairy, which is full of nutrients and natural protein that helps support bone health and overall wellness,” says Leona. “Plus, it tastes delicious! This desire for natural, minimally processed foods is driving an increase in sales of whole milk, full fat products and block butter as consumers re-evaluate the health benefits of the right dietary fats.
“Consumers are becoming bolder in knowing what they want and ultimately less is more. They want to go back to foods that are higher in nutrients, minimally processed and produced in the right way while not degenerating the earth.”

How retailers can support a positive future for dairy

Speciality Food retailers can help “by stocking the products, even when they command higher price points or lower margins, and by helping customers connect with the story behind the produce,” says David.
“Independent retailers hold a powerful position because they bridge the gap between conscious consumers and responsible producers. They can help customers understand value and see beyond the immediate transaction to the broader impact of their choices. In doing so, retailers become partners in creating more sustainable and ethical food systems.”

The greatest challenge faced by many dairy farmers is the changing price of milk, but by stocking artisanal products and educating consumers about the positive work they do, retailers can help in the fight towards a more sustainable future. “The dairy industry is predominantly ruled by the big players who trade the commodity of milk which means the price can massively fluctuate – this is our biggest challenge at the moment as we try to reduce the customers RRP whilst still trying to maintain set margins across our range,” explains Henry.

“We really appreciate our farm shop and deli stockists who help us to promote our range in their stores, whether that is by providing in-store tastings so we can physically talk to customers or by using graphics to show how far the products have travelled to get to the shelf. We encourage our retailers to do this as it a good talking point between the shop staff and customers.”

“Fine food retailers need to be looking out for what is important to the end consumer,” says Leona. “Shoppers are clearly looking for more sustainable food options such as regeneratively produced products, but they don’t want to compromise on taste. Both need to come hand-in-hand. In a survey we carried out this April with Ayton Research on 1,000 respondents, 95% said that they would like to see more regeneratively farmed food and drinks products where they shopped.”

A farmer’s perspective

Will Luke, who is the fifth generation of his family to run Porsham Farm, Devon, believes that the indigenous knowledge of previous generations have a lot to offer for him to be able to farm in a responsible and sustainable way

“I like to describe my forward progress as a spiral. I’m always revisiting practices and techniques that have been used on our our farm over the last 100 years, and viewing them with today’s latest thinking and knowledge to gain improvements to cow health, soil biology
and yield.

“When I originally learned dairy farming at agricultural college 30 years ago, what we were taught then was completely at odds with how we now know is best to do it,” he begins. “Back then, we were taught that bugs were bad, weeds were bad and crop fertility and protection came in the form of chemicals. But after re-educating myself in farming, this time at The Apricot Centre (Biodynamic farm and college) in 2021, the terminology used was ‘microbes’ and ‘herbs’ instead of ‘bugs’ and weeds’, and nutrition and protection was provided by nature.”

Will’s father, under the advice of successive Governments and agricultural advisers, spent most of his farming career using ever more chemical fertilisers and sprays, ripping away the farm hedges and nature habitats, laying concrete and building sheds. Production increased in line with the then policy but at a cost to soil and animal health and biodiversity loss. Will believes that the knowledge of how to farm for the best of animals, people and planet skips a generation. “I’m farming how my grandfather used to; seeing the farm as its own ecosystem and working to the benefit of the whole farm, rather than solely for cows to produce more milk.”

While Will learned the science behind regenerative farming when he retrained, he discovered that he was naturally going down that path just by following his gut instinct. “My wife Tanya and I wanted to take the farm in a different direction and although in those early days we often didn’t know the science or logic behind it, we just knew that it was the right thing to do. In effect we’ve farmed by mimicking nature and doing what felt right.”

Ruminants (cows, sheep, goats, deer and so on) should be seen as the solution to raised atmospheric carbon levels, not the cause of this ecological issue, says Will. “Farming and forestry are the only two sectors that have the ability to remove carbon from our atmosphere and sequester it back into the ground, but over the past 25 years ruminants have been portrayed in a negative light. By rotationally grazing diverse pastures ruminants have an ability to pump huge amounts of carbon back into our soils. Instead of being seen as the destroyers of our planet, they are actually going to be its saviour.”