While dairy has seen a decline, yogurt is “bucking the trend”, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has reported.

All age groups were seen by AHDB to be contributing to yogurt consumption growth, with those aged 16-24 growing the fastest while adults aged 65+ consumed the most.

AHDB found that 96% of dairy is consumed within the home, but noted that dairy consumption has seen the loss of 779 million occasions in the last year (Worldpanel by Numerator, 52 w/e 23rd February 2025), a steeper decline than total food and drink.

However, according to AHDB analysis, yogurt features in 34% of in-home occasions, up 3% on the year. As supported by data from Nielsen, the volume growth in retail sales of yogurt, yogurt drinks and fromage frais is being driven by cow’s dairy up 6% versus plant-based at 5% year-on-year. Cow’s dairy accounts for 97% of all yogurt volume sold (Nielsen, 52 w/e 14th June 2025).

Natural yogurt purchased more as consumers focus on nutrition

AHDB reported that the more affordable everyday yogurt had seen the fastest consumption increase, which it said was unsurprising due to the “financial pressures many consumers are under”. Natural and Greek style yogurt also experienced growth, as well as active health and flavoured yogurts, which AHDB said “played into a variety of needs, including taste, naturalness and nutrition”.

The analysis went on to point out that children were consuming less yogurt marketed towards kids, and were instead eating standard “adult” yogurts, which AHDB suggested could be a shift to more affordable and healthier alternatives.

Looking at consumer needs in regard to servings of yogurt, the analysis found:

• 63% were chosen for enjoyment reasons
• 32% were chosen for health benefits
• 17% were chosen to make a meal complete

AHDB said that it should be highlighted that cow’s dairy has an advantage over plant-based dairy when looking at these consumer needs. This came as Woldpanel by Numerator reported that the number of cow dairy yogurt servings chosen for health reasons had been increased by 8.6% on the year, while plant-based had declined 4% year-on-year.

Processed food discussion fuels interest in ingredients

Increased noise around processed food has resulted in 62% of consumers claiming that concerns around highly processed foods have caused them to look more closely at ingredients in yogurt products (Mintel, Yogurt and Yogurt Drinks – UK – 2024).

AHDB noted that according to Mintel, 40% of consumers neither agree nor disagree that yogurts are a good choice when looking to avoid processed food, which showed “some potential confusion here about processing”. The board highlighted an opportunity to educate consumers on the “natural credentials” of plain yogurts.