Consumer Milk Expenditures and Preferences for Tennessee Milk

The dairy industry in Tennessee has experienced changes over the past few decades. As of August 2019, the current number of dairy operations licensed to sell Grade A milk in the state is 196, down from 271 in 2018 (Tennessee Department of Agriculture). A potential market opportunity for Tennessee dairy producers is to sell milk to consumers who prefer local milk. In 2018, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Business Development Division, instituted the Tennessee Milk logo. This logo was designed to help consumers identify milk that was entirely sourced, processed and bottled in Tennessee. The market for milk with the Tennessee Milk logo is emerging and little is known about consumers’ preferences and attitudes toward fluid milk labeled with the Tennessee Milk logo. The goal of this publication is to convey results of a consumer survey regarding Tennessee consumers’ milk expenditures and preferences for Tennessee Milk to dairy producers, retailers and policy makers. This study presents: • Willingness to pay for Tennessee Milk. • Purchase amounts for Tennessee Milk. • Locations where consumers would purchase Tennessee Milk. • Consumer attitudes toward Tennessee Milk. • Distance traveled for milk to be considered local. • Current milk purchase patterns. • Respondent demographics.