Effect of Imitation or Filled Dairy Products

United States consumers are eating more fat than ever, but they are eating less animal fat. Per capita consumption of animal fat dropped 34% since 1960, and vegetable fat consumption increased by 77%. The shift to imitation dairy products is reflected in dairy product surpluses and resulting downward pressure on dairy product prices. The imitation product that threatens the dairy industry most is imitation cheese. The 205million pounds of imitation cheese marketed in 1984 was 44% of US Department of Agriculture price support purchases of cheese. Average retail prices for various types of imitation cheese are 16 to 32% lower than natural cheese prices; pizza with imitation cheese averages 14% less in price than natural cheese pizza of the same brand. Imitation cheese takes up 16% of the shredded cheese shelf space, 2% of the unshredded and process cheese shelf space, and pizza made with imitation cheese has gained more than half the pizza shelf space in the United States. The following strategies are recommended to counter the imitation problem: 1) reduce price advantage of imported casein through negotations with the European Economic Community to reduce export subsidies: 2) work for clearer, more prominent labeling of imitation dairy products; 3) put more emphasis on butter-margarine blend products, which compete more directly with margarine than butter; 4) use more of the $197million annual promotion funds from farmer checkoffs for promoting cheese. Buyer response to cheese promotion is three times the response from a similar investment in fluid milk promotion.