Asia Pacific Dairy Whitener Market

Asia Pacific Dairy Whitener Market Growth and Forecast (2023 - 2028):

The Asia Pacific Dairy Whitener Market was around USD 2.01 billion in 2022. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.92% to reach USD 2.8 billion by 2028. The world’s total milk production was estimated to be about 765 million tons in 2013.

Market Overview:

Dairy whiteners, alternatively known as milk powder, are extensively used as a substitute for milk, largely in tea and coffee. They are also used in other food products such as hot chocolate, puddings, soups, and sauces. Besides whitening, dairy whiteners also add mouth feel, body and flavor to the beverages they are added to and, thereby, improve the overall taste. They come in fluid, powder or condensed forms and can widely differ in their fat and sugar content.

Whole milk powder (WMP) and skim milk powder (SMP) available in the market account for nearly 50% share of dairy products and dairy whiteners worldwide. Dairy whiteners are products with fat content greater than that of SMP and lesser than WMP.

The milk powder comes in various categories containing high protein value, degenerate milk-fat and lessened lactose content that perform the function of an emulsifier. Effectiveness of this market includes that of flavour, with 61% of coffee drinkers finding flavour to be the most important factor in choosing their whitener. This is being seen as an alternative for specialty coffee. Various other properties include solubility, and foaming properties, thus improving the water binding properties in bakery foods, sports and nutrition foods.

Population growth, rising disposable incomes, urbanisation rates, ease of use and storage, hectic lifestyle, changing dietary habits are some of the factors that are driving the growth of this market. As compared to milk, dairy whiteners offer certain benefits such as convenience, portability, and longer shelf-life, which fuel the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market. In addition, the growing industry for infant formula is likely to offer a great opportunity for growth of the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market during the forecast period. Dairy whiteners are widely used in the manufacture of infant formula. Factors such as increase in birth rates and decrease in mortality rates, which result in growth in the infant population in Asia-Pacific, are projected to propel the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market. Further, demand from increasing number of working women for convenience foods, consumer awareness about functional foods, growing demand for milk products with increasing population & urbanization in developing countries are some of the major drivers for the dairy whiteners industry. The tariff rates on exports, effect of high imports on domestic production, growing population in developing countries will impact positively the demand for dairy whiteners. Also, the cost advantage that the emerging economies like Brazil, India and China provide in terms of processing and production, will help these markets to grow exponentially.

Low preference of some patrons to dairy whiteners over conventional milk and milk products, due to rising awareness about health, may hamper the growth of the dairy whiteners market. The health-conscious consumer with awareness on ultra-high temperature techniques reducing the protein content of milk may pose a hurdle for the milk powder market and, in turn, for the milk whitener category. Specifically, many research studies have found that whiteners have substitute ingredients which unnecessarily increase cholesterol and these reports are gaining traction in the market dampening the growth of the market.

Asia Pacific Dairy Whitener Market Segmentation Analysis:

The Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market can be segmented into three categories: By application, by distribution channels and by geographies. Dairy whiteners, which are a category of dry milk powder, have many applications in infant formula, confectionaries, bakeries, nutritional foods, etc. Dairy whiteners made through partially skimmed milk are used widely in coffee and tea or for preparing desserts. Types of distribution channels include convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and food and drinks specialists. Growth of the organized sector coupled with change in consumer preference from traditional mom–and-pop stores to supermarkets and hypermarkets has resulted in dominance of this segment on the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market.

In the emerging economies of Asia, the largest application sector for milk powders and milk whiteners is the infant food market, which is presently a USD 55 billion market growing at 7.22% annually. Indonesia and India, with their largest youth population is a huge potential market for the dairy whitener industry. Also, Japan’s demand for specific milk proteins and high female labour participation are also driving the milk powders industries towards technological advancements in this segment.

Region Analysis:

On the basis of geography, the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market has been segmented into China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Asia Pacific constitutes the leading market share, closely followed by North America. Various factors such as steadily rising population, rapid urbanization, and presence of substantial amount of tea drinkers, especially in countries such as China and India, lead to growth of the dairy whiteners market in Asia Pacific. North America holds the second-largest share in the global dairy whiteners market. This is primarily due to large population of coffee drinkers in the region. Although the U.S. is the second-largest producer of milk in the world, the demand for milk and dairy whiteners in the country is higher than their supply.

Key Players in the Market:

The dairy whiteners market has both domestic and foreign players. In order to remain competitive in the market, companies are investing great amounts of their revenue into R&D activities. This is due to the fluid as well as competitive nature of the market. One of such innovations is the introduction of flavours in dairy whiteners. Flavours such as chocolate and strawberry have gained traction since their launch, which took place a few years ago. Some of the major players operating in the Asia-Pacific dairy whiteners market include Nestlé, Fonterra, Danone, Friesland Campina, Amul, and Lactalis. Other notable companies are Arla Foods, Dean Foods, Muller, Dairy Farmers of America, Schreiber Foods, Mother Dairy, Sodiaal, Land O’ Lakes, Mengniu, Morinaga Milk Industry, Saputo, Yili Group, and Kraft Heinz. In India, ITC has stepped into the dairy whitener market with its Sunfresh brand, its second offering in dairy business, after it opened its innings in this space last October with packaged ghee. With this, the Kolkata-based company intensified its rivalry with Nestle and Amul, the two largest companies in the dairy whitener segment, which together account for more than 85% of the market.