Domestic market trends

This section provides insights on domestic food and dairy market trends

Packaged milk sales are reported by Dairy Australia.

Sales trends compared to the prior year vary significantly across states as shown. 

Supermarket sales of milk

Typically, just under 60% of milk is sold through supermarkets in Australia, making them the major channel to consumers. This is particularly true for white milk, while a larger proportion of flavoured milk is sold through convenience outlets.

Milk – as a high-volume, staple product that can drive shopper traffic – has been at the forefront of major retailer efforts to win market share based on every day low prices. Private label white milk has been integral to these strategies.

Average selling prices

The average selling prices per litre across all fresh white milk products (across all brands and pack sizes) varies between the fresh milk states due to the different shares of the market held by private label products (see below), which results in a lower average price in NSW compared to Queensland.

Private label v brands

There has been little movement in shares of supermarket sales between processor brands and supermarket sales. Private label shares have drifted slightly lower in the past year.