More Australians are ditching low-fat or skim milk for full cream milk, according to Dairy Australia.
Supermarket sales data compiled by the national dairy industry body show that full cream milk sales jumped 10 per cent in 10 years, taking a greater share of dairy milk drinking from its low-fat or skim counterparts.
Full cream milk made up 60 per cent of all dairy milk sales in 2011–12, growing to 71 per cent by 2021–22.
Dairy Australia's marketing strategy manager and dietitian Glenys Zucco said the figures reflected changing perceptions about what was healthy.
Ms Zucco said there were now considerable research findings that not all saturated fats were equal.
"A decade ago full-fat dairy was associated with cholesterol and heart disease," she said.
"The saturated fats in regular fat dairy products don't have the same negative effect on heart disease risk as saturated fats found in other foods such as fatty meats, packaged sweets, pastries, and takeaway foods."
Changing consumer habits
In 2021–22, Australian per capita consumption of milk stood at 93 litres per person for the year, which equals just over 250 millilitres per day.
Dairy Australia reports drinking milk sales showed a small jump during COVID-19, mostly in UHT or long-life milk sales.
However, despite the increased demand, fresh drinking milk was still the most popular variety among consumers.
While sales of butter overall are dropping, there was also a small jump in sales during pandemic isolation.
"Consumers took up home cooking with gusto during the pandemic. I don't know about you, I was making scones and banana bread left, right, and centre," Ms Zucco said.
Consumption of cheese has grown in the past 12 months from to 13.4 kilograms to 15 kilograms per capita.
Cheddar is still the most popular cheese in Australia, but non-cheddar varieties like mozzarella and specialist cheeses had grown as well.
Dairy analyst Jo Bills said she had seen a return to some of the traditional dairy staples of the 1970s and 80s.
"We've had those conversations about whether the fat is as bad for you as we used to think, and people are really coming back to some of these traditional staple products for the taste, and for the way they perform in their cooking," Ms Bills said.
Iced coffees all round
When it comes to dairy, sales of flavoured dairy milk are also steadily rising, and South Australia is leading the charge by drinking two to three times the national average.
Tumby Bay shop owner Paul Neindorf was not surprised.
"Not with the amount we go through. We are only a small store, but we go through a fair bit of flavoured milk," he said.
"The regulars come in and get their milk, the iced coffees, strawberry, and chocolate milk.
"Some of them have one or two a day, but I've known people who have four or five.
