Guest Editorial
Milk: it does a business, a country and a population good

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®.

Having worked for dairy producers for 24 years, I can always tell the price of milk by the tenor of any processor or producer meeting — especially board meetings where project funding is considered.

Such is the fate of commodity production throughout the world. It is a constant flux of building up and tearing down equity with the long-term hope that the building exceeds the tearing down. Simple demand will drive the price up while oversupply drives it down and that is about the extent of my understanding of economics.

The bigger question is why anyone would want a career in this business or, more to a personal point, why would anyone want to work for someone in this business? The answer for me and many others may be more profound than what can be found in other industries — we have a great product that people need in order to be healthy.

Global demand for milk is up because global economies are improving. Nothing earthshaking here. The first thing any economy wants to do when it has stabilized economically is to eat better. Diets that are based on limited selections of vegetable foods typically contain many essential nutrients but are not in balance or in adequate supply. It’s like leaving something essential out of your production process — while things might not grind to a halt, production yield and quality will alter significantly.

The same thing happens with people. Add modest amounts of a nutritionally-dense and well-balanced food source to the type of diet typically seen in economically-depressed populations and the resulting improvement in health and height is exponentially more than what could be achieved otherwise.

Milk is the most nutritionally complete food on the planet. Adding a reasonable amount of milk to an otherwise unbalanced diet unlocks the ability of all the components of the diet to function fully. By nutrients being in balance with each other, the body can now approach its full genetic potential. We can all point to populations around the world where the people went from a subsistence diet to a nutritionally complete diet with the height and health profile demonstrating dramatic improvements. This is not rocket science but very fundamental nutrition science.

This desire for health drives the demand. As soon as a population can afford milk, it will demand it and the nutritional status of that population will increase. Of course, as demand goes up the attending price increase motivates greater milk production, which goes to help even more people. This is a noble thing that the dairy industry does but it does not come easily. As in any commodity business, the low cost provider will succeed. Thus, the efficiency of milk production and manufacturing remains a constant driver in the business and requires continuous research. The lower the cost of production and manufacturing, the more product hits the marketplace with more people able to afford it, which is better business for the dairy producer and processor.

We all want to feel good about what we do every day. Dairy producers have taken on the very important role of producing the greatest health food available on earth. Processors bring that product to the consumer. Nevertheless, in order to stay in business there must be a profit factor.

This is where the people and organizations that work for the dairy industry come in. Some of us do the research needed to maintain healthy animals and low production costs, while others create new technologies for product development, address marketing issues and communicate the nutritional advantages of dairy products to consumers. That’s just a small example of the affiliated enterprises that exist to support and promote dairy products. We work to keep the industry profitable. Of course, we have to make a living, too — but we, like producers and processors, are dedicated to bringing health and nutrition to the world. Who can’t feel good about that?

Nutritional imbalances have been and always will be with us. However, I am proud to work in an industry dedicated to delivering nutritional solutions to these problems. It has always been that way — starting with the first domesticated cow turning useless grass into the most nutritious product on earth.

The National Dairy Council was founded by producers and processors in 1915 based on educating consumers as to the nutritional value of milk. You find the same story in virtually all countries with a sizeable dairy industry. Nutrition is what dairy does better than any other food group. Delivering that nutrition in a great variety of products is very much a part of that. Many years ago the tag line “Milk has something for every body” was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission (no doubt under the prompting of milk detractors). The FTC lost. There will always be those who see attacks on the dairy industry as a means to a livelihood. That’s part of their business and they will use the government or any other means to support it.

What is important to remember are the billions of people adamantly seeking your product in order to lift the health of their families. That’s YOUR business — and a good one.

CMN

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