WCMA Notes: New Dairy Growth, Expansion

On the eve of CheeseExpo, there’s a host of positives to celebrate in dairy, and in particular, for cheese, whey protein and yogurt.  

Retail Cheese Sales 

Natural cheese sales volume in all retail grocery outlets ticked up 1.0 percent in 2025, with dollar sales value up 0.7 percent, according to retail scanner data reported by Circana. Some higher-volume winners in 2025 included: burrata up 19.4 percent, Colby jack up 3.3 percent, feta up 6.5 percent, gouda up 7.9 percent, mozzarella up 1.5 percent, muenster up 5.8 percent, Parmesan up 5.6 percent, queso blanco up 2.1 percent, queso cotija up 19.1 percent, queso fresco up 8.2 percent, queso panela up 25.7 percent, and queso quesadilla up 18.9 percent.  

Yogurt at retail grocery stores performed spectacularly in 2025 with total sales in all retail channels up 9 percent in volume and 13.7 percent in dollar sales value. Given that 2024 volume growth was 7.4 percent and 2023 growth was  3.5 percent, it’s safe to say that consumers are increasingly aligning yogurt with their preference for natural, clean-label, protein-rich foods. 

E-Commerce Sales Rising 

Dairy purchasing is growing rapidly within E-Commerce platforms at grocery retailers.  Circana recently looked at E-Commerce (online) sales of food and dairy.   

Tracking 15 dairy categories (including natural cheese, butter, processed cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt, among others), Circana reports that while just 11.6 percent of consumer dairy sales occur via online purchases, that level grew 19 percent in 2025. Looking back, consumers bought $7 billion worth of dairy products online in 2022 and that rose to $11.6 billion in 2025.  

Interestingly, in 2025, 55 percent of all food and beverage sales growth for retailers came through their online platforms.  

The largest E-Commerce item in dairy, by dollar sales, is natural cheese at $2.5 billion in 2025. About 12 percent of consumer sales of natural cheese happen online. Online sales for natural cheese were $1.6 billion in 2022, meaning online sales rose 56 percent in four years. 

Booming Exports 

Exports of cheese from the U.S. set an all-time record in 2025, with shipments 20 percent higher than the previous year, according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC). More than 1.35 billion pounds of U.S. cheese moved to other nations. 

Mexico dominates U.S. cheese exports, purchasing 446.4  million pounds in 2025, followed by Central America and the Caribbean (206.3 million pounds), South Korea (171.8 million pounds), Japan (124 million pounds) and Australia/New Zealand (105.2 million pounds). USDEC reports that cheddar exports “led the way” in 2025, reaching 249 million pounds.  

High-protein whey enjoyed a strong year until soaring prices for concentrates and isolates cooled exports in the fall of 2025. USDEC noted that overseas sales of WPC 80 and higher protein offerings grew 6 percent to 171.4 million pounds in 2025. 

New Production Growth 

Growth in cheese production capacity has been heavily discussed in the U.S. dairy industry in recent years, but here’s a headline: another wave of cheese and dairy manufacturing growth is underway. Some projects noted below, still in planning stages, have not yet released public information. 

South Dakota 

Bel Brands recently broke ground on a $200 million expansion of its Babybel® production facility in Brookings. Bel reported that the project will double the plant’s annual production capacity to 44 million pounds and double local milk sourcing. 

Agropur has announced a $60 million modernization of Agropur’s Lake Norden, SD, facility focused on growing its production of value-added products including milk concentrates and whey proteins. 

Additional cheese manufacturing is currently under discussion in South Dakota. 

Wisconsin 

Meister Cheese will break ground in April on the third phase of its recent expansion, adding a greenfield make room that will allow the specialty cheese producer to double overall production in the long run.  Construction is set to be completed by July 2027. 

V&V Supremo will break ground on a new cheese production facility in Jefferson, WI this spring, adding capacity for its line of Hispanic cheeses now produced in Browntown and Arena, WI. 

Agropur is committing $70 million to its three Wisconsin cheese plants in Weyauwega, Luxemburg and Little Chute. The emphasis is value-added capacity in whey processing.  

AMPI will convert its cheddar cheese production facility in Blair, WI, to a high-capacity cottage cheese plant in 2026. Westby Cooperative Creamery is modernizing its cottage cheese capacity in Westby, WI.  

Idaho 

Following massive investments at Chobani in Twin Falls and Idaho Milk Products in Jerome in the past two years, another dairy processing opportunity is taking shape in the Gem State. 

Additional States 

Schreiber Foods is moving forward with a $132 million expansion to its yogurt production facility in Shippensburg, PA. A dairy processing expansion is being planned in Iowa. 

Dairy sales, exports and production expansion continue their exciting pattern of growth, meeting a global need for natural, nutritious, delicious dairy foods.