U.S. milk market: leading brands of white milk based on sales 2024

In 2024, the white milk market was dominated by private label brands, generating almost 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in sales for the 12 weeks ended July 14, 2024. Aside from private label whole milk brands, Hood had the highest level of sales, at 255 million U.S. dollars in that time. 

Milk cows in the United States

The United States is home to around 9.4 million milk cows as of 2022. The amount of milk each cow in the United States produces has risen significantly over the past two decades. In 1999, a single dairy cow produced about 17,763 pounds of milk per year. By 2023, this figure is expected to increase to 24,345 pounds of milk per year. Dairy cows are a costly investment in terms of water usage, feed, and space. A dairy cow which is producing milk eats approximately 100 pounds of feed every day.

Global milk market

The global volume of cow milk production exceeded 544 million metric tons in 2022. The leading producer of cow milk worldwide is the European Union, followed by the United States and India. In 2022, the 27 countries of the European Union produced 144 million metric tons of milk, while the United States produced about 103 million metric tons of milk. India topped the list in terms of cow milk consumption in that year, with the European Union coming in second.