95% of people, who purchased milk over the past 4 weeks, did so from a supermarket, 13% from convenience stores and only 8% from the local milk bar or corner store.

If we look at those who purchased milk in only the last seven days, 50% bought Home Brand (private label / supermarket brand) milk, half the market which is up 3% points since December 2006. The number of people purchasing branded milk represents as much as 68% of buyers; however this is on the decline, down 8% points since December 2006. The number of people purchasing both home brand and branded milk has also declined – 5% points since December 2006.


Branded Milk vs. Home Branded Milk


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Jan – Dec 06, n = 19,272; Jan – Dec 10, n = 14,908. * in the last 7 days.


The move away from Branded milk can also be seen from a volume perspective; in the year to December 2006, 58% of all milk purchased was Branded milk, this had fallen to 55% by the year to December 2010.

The uptake of Home Brand milk in the Regular milk segment is more established than in the Reduced Fat or No Fat segments. Of those who purchased Regular milk, 55% purchased Home Brand milk, compared to 37% of those who purchased Reduced Fat milk and 34% of those who purchased No Fat milk. Amongst the Regular milk segment the proportion of people buying Home Brand milk was stable over the last 5 years, however growth was seen in the Reduced Fat segment (up 6% points) and the No Fat segment (up 10% points).

The biggest shift away from Branded milk has been amongst households with children. 73% of this group had purchased Branded milk in the year to December 2006, while by the year to December 2010 this had fallen to 63%. People living in these households are 36% of the population aged 14 years and over but account for 46% of the volume of milk purchased – those who buy a lot of milk are more likely to purchase Home Brand milk than those who buy less milk.

However within the Branded milk market, not all brands are equal and some are showing positive growth. The number of people who purchased Pauls Smarter increased by 40% and the number who purchased Devondale increased by 69% in the five years to December 2010. Both products appeal to different markets within the milk category; people who buy Devondale are older and of lower socio-economic status than milk buyers in general while Pauls Smarter buyers are more likely to be professionals / managers and people living in Young Couples Households.

Amongst Supermarket brands much of the growth seen over the last 5 years can be attributed to Woolworths products (the number of buyers increased 21%) while purchase of Coles milk has remained relatively flat (down 3%). Although the medium to long term impact of the supermarket ‘price war’ remains to be seen, Roy Morgan data shows that before Coles chose milk to spearhead its lower prices strategy 28% of the milk buyers purchased Woolworths milk and only 19% purchased Coles milk.


Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“The big supermarkets have significant market power in milk, especially in home brands where the current price battle is being fought. This suggests that the winners in the shake-out will be consumers.

“It’s too early to measure the impact of the milk price war, however history has shown that price benefit is not the only factor in drawing loyal brand shoppers from the likes of Dairy Farmers, Pura or indeed Brownes. Where marketers seem to have contained the migration to home brands until now, can they hold onto loyal branded milk purchases or will these shoppers also switch to supermarket brands when faced with even cheaper prices? How will they continue to differentiate their brands – with added ingredients for health benefits, premium brand image or by using taste as the unique selling proposition?

"Roy Morgan Research profiles tell us who is purchasing which brands and help us understand why some people continue to purchase Branded milk over Home Brand milk.”

Purchase detailed Roy Morgan Milk Brands Customer Profiles. These Profiles provide a broad understanding of people who have consumed certain milk products in the last 7 days in terms of demographics, attitudes, activities and media usage in Australia.


For more details contact:

info@roymorganonlinestore.com