Guest Editorial
Strong demand for dairy demands research to reach our full potential

by Joseph O’Donnell

Joseph O’Donnell is executive director of the California Dairy Research Institute. He contributes this column exclusively for Cheese Market News®.

The O’Donnell formula for rapidly-increasing milk prices says that price is a function of increased demand which is a function of increased appreciation of nutrition. Earthshaking? Perhaps not, but neither is my comprehension of economics. Nevertheless, I do know that the one advantage dairy continues to hold over all other foods is its delivery of nutrition. No other food can touch us — it’s a theme I return to again and again. In order to maintain a good milk price we need to constantly add value.

Conventional wisdom says that the run-up in milk prices these last few months can be blamed largely on international demand. Imagine increasing demand without much promotion or even product development. Other products should be so lucky. So why milk and why now? I’ve beaten this drum so often, I’m wearing a hole in it but here it is … when underfed populations experience an improved economy, the first thing they focus on is eating better. The desire for health is universal. We all want to live up to our full genetic potential. The first step is with adequate nutrition.

The best example is the biggest — China. This country, which as few as 20 years ago was considered an unlikely market for milk, now is the largest milk importer in the world. The Chinese government currently has a policy goal of every person consuming two dairy servings per day. The domestic dairy industry has responded with exceptional growth — an estimated 20-25 percent last year alone. While issues of milk quality remain, there is an intense focus on dairy and with it high international demand in the near term and the potential for high domestic production and export in the long term. This is all based on a population’s desire to eat better, to be healthier and reach their full genetic potential, however that is measured.

Consider the concept of reaching our genetic potential. Each of us possesses a personal genome and with it a personal physiology and our very own nutritional requirements. Milk is a system where the components act collectively in delivering health benefits. However rich any milk or milk product might be in nutritional benefits, there is no single product designed to meet all needs of all individuals.

The dairy industry needs the ability to add value to dairy products by understanding the system by which milk delivers nutrition and then modifying this system to optimize performance for groups of people with similar nutritional needs.

All of this implies that we fully understand the system we call milk. The first step is to look at the human and bovine genomes as they relate to milk production. A complete and fully annotated genome will tell us about the relationships between milk components and the physiological signals that lead to changes in milk composition. At the end of the day our industry will own a databank that supports a never-ending product development effort. As consumer needs and manufacturing processes change, the milk genomics databank will serve as the foundation for delivering the products those consumers, now highly motivated because of the way the product targets individual needs, will buy. This approach will change everything.

No other food can deliver like this. Yes, you can expect fierce competition within the global dairy industry to market such products but the baseline information coming from the research labs likely will be available to anyone at modest cost. This is happening right now. The International Milk Genomics Consortium (IMGC) — www.imgconsortium.org — recently held its fourth annual meeting. The purpose of IMGC is to facilitate the global development of new products based on the natural nutritional advantages of milk. It was a powerful program that also saw the launch of a completely new web portal tool where information is exchanged among members. As we grow to understand the mechanisms by which milk delivers nutrition, we can apply the information to product development.

To keep milk prices up, we need to maintain strong demand, which means promoting the nutritional value of milk by itself or as an ingredient. We must continually add value. People always will want to eat better, be healthier and live longer. Through the cutting edge of dairy research involving all the “omics” of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, glycomics and lipomics, dairy will continue to play an even more valuable role in that solution. As we move forward, the position of milk and dairy products in elevating the health of the world will continue to drive demand for our products.

CMN

The views expressed by CMN’s guest columnists are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheese Market News®.