Is my cow happy?

On my way trying to understanding how healthy trends are guiding shoppers decisions… I have to address dairy product. What are the benefits?

According to Stonyfield Farms, organic dairy cows eat 50% fresh pasture (grass), 40% alfalfa hay, and 10% non-GMO grain. Conventional cows’ diet is 40% alfalfa hay and 60% GMO soy and corn. So in effect, they are eating a pesticide diet: 42 billion pounds of pesticides per year are used to produce dairy food!

All bran proclaimed the happiness of the regularity, also the cows are happy because of a healthy diet rich in roughage.

So how is the dairy market reacting to the organic products? In terms of revenue not too well, below you can find a table with the TOP 10 dairy companies and the trend is steady.

There are some companies that have understood the value of organic produce, above all in the baby food sector. For instance Danone has snapped up 90% of organic US firm Happy Family.

Otherwise Nestlé’s chairman and former CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe declared anti-organic arguments, from “organic can’t feed the world” to “organic isn’t any better for you.”

In the meantime Nestlé declared last quarter being sales disappointment again … and Organic Valley has reported a 10.5% increase in 2013.