In the past few days, the Washington Post ran two stories on milk consumption; one on the decades-long decline in dairy consumption and one on the rise of alternatives, such as soy, almond, coconut, rice and hemp. “Milk alternatives control just eight percent of overall milk sales in the United States, but for the past few years, they’ve represented the fastest-growing part of the dairy market, according to Mintel, Inc., a Chicago-based research firm,” says the Post in exploring the market.
Per capita milk consumption has declined since 1970, says the other Post story. “Americans, on average, drink 37 percent less milk today than they did in 1970, according to data from the USDA. Forty years ago, per capita consumption was nearly one and a half cups per day; now it’s nearer to 0.8.”