ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS seizing T opportunities Through its Vision for the Future, IDFA looks to harness the power of US dairy products and become the world's leading supplier. by Michael Dykes | International Dairy Foods Association he International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) just completed our 2023 Spring Board Meetings in Nashville, Tenn. Over the course of three days, we discussed how to ensure US dairy becomes the world's leading supplier of affordable, sustainable dairy nutrition. A few issues came up again and again during the conversations. I'll summarize them here as challenges and opportunities. OPPORTUNITES There are five opportunities that we must seize: Growing demand: There is a solid base of demand in the US and significant growth potential in developing economies. People are consuming more dairy with greater focus on cheese and yogurt. The US can respond to growing demand by embracing commodity and value-added products with a sustainability and growth mindset. Waning production in European Union and New Zealand: Although the EU and NZ are no longer growing, the markets are investing in value-added products to capitalize on growing incomes around the world. The US should do the same to harness production efficiency and seize the export gaps created by structural reductions in the EU and NZ. Innovation: The US must continue to develop new products beyond current offerings, including more focus on aseptic and ESL processing. More importantly, we must do a better job of extracting value from milk components. Focus on health & wellness: We must continue to elevate dairy's health benefits by incorporating milk's components into functional foods, nutraceuticals and therapeutic foods. We also must elevate science and research demonstrating dairy's health and wellness attributes. Improved pricing flexibility: The complicated structure of the US dairy industry is hampering growth. With improved 72 MAY-JUN 2023 | DAIRYPROCESSING.COM ©Lightfield Studios-stock.adobe.comhttp://www.DAIRYPROCESSING.COM