Let's take our hats off to dairy farmers!
It’s World Milk Day today (June 1), a time to celebrate the vital role that milk, and dairy products play in our lives and acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the New Zealand dairy sector.
It’s a day created by the United Nations to recognise the importance of milk as a global food.
For NZ, it’s a good day to reflect on both the nutritional and economic value New Zealand dairy farmers are creating every day.
Mindy Wigzell, fonterra’s head of nutrition, says dairy is an important source of nutrition for people all around the world. In fact, 1 billion people enjoy Fonterra dairy products globally.
Here are some top facts about dairy in New Zealand:
- New Zealanders consume 400 million litres of milk each year
- 190 two litre bottles of milk are sold every minute in New Zealand supermarkets
- New Zealand has the 3rdhighest consumption of fresh white milk per capita in the world
- Out of all the flavoured milks, chocolate is the most popular by far
- Tip Top uses 60,000 litres of fresh milk every week to make their delicious ice cream
- Worldwide, there are more than 40,000 different varieties of ice-cream
- It takes 10 litres of milk to make a 500-gram block of butter
- Cream sales increase nearly 200% each December – it’s a must for the Christmas pav!
- Mainland Tasty Cheese is the #1 selling cheese in New Zealand.
Wigzell says milk is much more than just a drink as it contains such a large range of naturally occurring nutrients including high quality protein, calcium, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B12, potassium and phosphorus.
Dairy contributes $12 billion to New Zealand’s economy each year. It directly employs more than 40,000 people across the country and plays a big part in New Zealand’s rural economies and communities.
