An industry-wide campaign to boost sales of dairy products during lockdown resulted in an estimated 11.2 million litres of additional liquid milk sales during the pandemic.
The £1 million Milk Your Moments campaign aimed to address a drop in liquid milk demand caused by the closure of foodservice outlets during the pandemic.
It was jointly funded by levy body AHDB, dairy processors’ body Dairy UK, Defra and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments.
The 12-week campaign featured the first national dairy TV advert for 20 years, which encouraged people to come together during the Covid-19 crisis and chat over a virtual cup of tea or coffee with milk.
People were asked to share these moments on social media channels using the hashtag #milkyourmoments and the dairy industry pledged to make a donation to mental health charities for moments shared.
This resulted in £100,000 being raised overall for charities including the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).
AHDB strategy director for dairy, Paul Flanagan, hailed the success of the campaign and said every £1 spent on media was turned into £13.99 of retail sales.
“It shows just how much can be achieved when industry and government are all pulling in the same direction with a hard-hitting campaign which struck a chord with consumers in very uncertain times,” said Mr Flanagan.
“Milk Your Moments was created to inspire moments of connection as people were forced to stay apart due to coronavirus. It highlighted the role fresh milk and dairy plays during difficult times.”
He said data from consumer research body Kantar revealed an additional 212,000 consumers who would not normally buy milk bought it during the campaign period, and 15% of Brits are now less likely to switch to dairy alternatives.
The additional liquid milk sales were estimated to be worth more than £6m.
Dairy UK chief executive Judith Bryans said: “Everyone involved in the development and funding of this campaign went into it with a very positive mindset wanting to connect with our consumers and reassure them that dairy has always been with them and would continue to be with them through the crisis.
“The uplift in sales that was achieved and the positive behaviour changes evidenced by the results reflect the fact the campaign’s messages resonated with consumers.”
