The Consumption and Sales of Dairy Products - Case Study Example

The Dairy Industry Dairy has become an inseparable part of the food industry and plays an important role in many culinary aspects of cooking. The essential constituent of nutrient: calcium is abundantly available through dairy products. They also offer iron and fats to variable extent depending on the product. Many Americans today include some kind of dairy source in their: breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are many contributing factors to purchasing dairy and it is important to note the pitfalls of improperly processed and low grade dairy products. Several factors determine the consumption and sales of dairy products. These include: 1. Selection factors pertaining to dairy. 2. Purchasing considerations. 3. Receiving, storing, issuing and in-process concerns for dairy. 4. Management considerations 5. New technology and development of the product The following essay addresses dairy purchasing in the food industry and explains the contributing factors that impact the dairy industry’s overall progress and consumer participation. It is important to note the “right” and “wrong” ways of purchasing dairy. There are many contributing factors to purchasing dairy (or any food product). One of these factors that are commonly overlooked during purchasing is making ethical decisions. In the food industry, there are many business strategies to help cut costs while maximizing profits. This business oriented approach may make people compromise their values by sacrificing quality over cost. To earn profit, people tend to come up with “short cuts” that may harm the overall quality of the product. The food industry is most susceptible to all such strategies as it involves trading perishable items. To elaborate on ethical dilemma, visualize a phenomenon of a kid enjoying ice cream until its mother asks it to stop eating the product because she notices the food item being sold with lapsed expiry date. Here, “life span” of a product comes into picture. Life span of any merchandise can be described as the time until which it is considered usable. Sales of any product are affected by this lifetime; the duration elapsed between the products coming on shelf and the time of their sale holds significance. A shrewd shop owner would not discard such expired items but sell them to innocent customers who tend to overlook product details while purchasing. Furthermore, a customer isn’t aware of the manufacturing details which are many times toyed with to prepare alternative constituents for the same dairy products. In this case while customers think they are buying good quality products, they are actually deceived by selling them low grade items marked as good ones. Not only the taste but also the appearance and quality of the product get affected depending on its manufacturing process, fodder given to cows, seasonal behavior of cows in delivering milk, health of cattle, hygiene at the manufacturing plant, etc. Hence it becomes essential to understand the selection factors and purchasing considerations pertaining to dairy so that in the end customers receive what they really want. Various factors to be considered: 1. Intended use: The desired use of the product can be just for appearance, good taste or for both; accordingly different types of finished products need to be bought satisfying our need (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.468). 2. USDA grading: The U.S. government has set up United States Department of Agriculture’s Poultry and Dairy division which looks into assessing standards of dairy products and assigns grades depending on the quality of products (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.469). A prospective buyer should be aware of these factors and consider this factor for selection of product if he/she wants to abide by the norms defined by the government. The grading system in a way assures us of the quality that we pay for. 3. Packers’ brands: This is an important influencing factor as usually people do not like to compromise on the brand name of the product. A product may be manufactured by a company and distributed by different companies. In this case, the taste remains same. However a successful brand name can direct some companies to produce substitutes for the asked product and save money thereof; in this case the customer has to be aware of the product’s appearance, taste, fat content, etc. the details of which are mentioned on the product packaging (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.472). 4. Product size and shape: These two are aesthetically important factors. They also hold importance from the consumption point of view. Whether we require cheese slabs or slices, our choice of having it so defines our selection (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.472). 5. Container size: The quantity of the product that we want isn’t necessarily available in standard packages in market. Hence, people often tend to compromise on this front. For example, if we want 325 gm of curd, we have to buy a pack of either 250 gm or 500 gm as is available in standard packages. However one must select that size of the container which reduces any kind of leftovers and minimizes wastage (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.473). Another important issue that needs to be addressed is that of ‘edible-portion cost’ also referred to as EP cost. The container size could be large but the EP cost could be low (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.473). 6. Type of packaging material: Packaging has to be good enough to preserve the originality of the product manufactured and to retain its taste as well as appearance. Different types of packaging materials available are plastic, glass, metals, etc (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.473). 7. Butterfat content: Selection according to butterfat content depends on customer’s priority being health, taste or appearance. Higher fat content is many times undesirable for health conscious customers whereas, it is preferred by those whose priority is taste. Typical dairy products include milk, cream, yogurt, eggs, butter, buttermilk and cheese. Liquid dairy products are often sold in volume recognized as pints and gallons. The volume to weight relationship of any product facilitates easy calculation of costs associated with dairy product and eases purchasing consideration (Lynch). To buy the correct amount of dairy product, a purchasing formula stated by Lynch is as follows: AS fluid ounces needed divided by fluid ounces in a purchase unit = number of purchase units. Purity of the product is also an important factor. Not everyone needs pure product. A substitute for certain dairy products is also acceptable where slight variation in taste can be compromised. However affecting purity also affects nutritional value of the product. We all need to be aware of this and decide the extent to which we are ready to consume a product with low cost and minimal nutritious value. The concerned nutritional values pertaining to minerals in the product are mentioned in the specifications on the product pack. It goes without saying that purity is an essential factor, but all substituted constituents within a product aren’t always bad. In fact they have a positive side of providing us with a way to consume dairy while still avoiding the heavy amount of fat intake in our diet. This is good for people suffering from ailments related to heart, kidney and liver. Thus health benefit offered by certain products holds importance in making a decision to purchase them. Furthermore, a very important factor is availability of the product. A product has to meet the demand in the market. An imbalance in the demand-supply chain of a product affects its cost and hence purchasing possibility. Processing milk is a three stage activity: in the first stage, the amount of milk fat is standardized, the second stage involves pasteurizing of milk to make it safe for drinking and in the third stage it is homogenized to break up suspended fat particles to avoid cream formation (Bailey p.46). Preservation of dairy products is an arduous task. Milk needs to be stored in large chiller tanks before its transport to desired location. Temperatures affect bacterial activity in the milk. Milk needs to reach customers before large number of bacteria develops within it. Several milk products are either anhydrous or aqueous. The in-process concerns for an aqueous product include considering salt content, pH level, moisture content and non fatty milk solids (Early p.215). An anhydrous product is melted prior to use and its cooling is important (Early p.215). An optimum level of regulating all these factors gives desired product which can sustain sufficient life span so that it remains eatable even few days after it has reached customers. Refrigeration is the most common storage requirement for all dairy products. They need to be stored in a cool place to avoid damage to them. The storage method depends on their issuing requirements. If a product is to be served frozen, its obvious storage needs to be followed. It is also possible to keep some products at room temperatures. For example, whole milk in aseptic packages can be stored at room temperatures for many months; such a product usually undergoes a pasteurization process at ultra high temperatures and tastes very much like fresh milk or refrigerated milk (Feinstein, Stefanelli p.474). All in all, dairy industry and its functioning are easier said than done. It is a very complex process which involves tampering with nature: right from obtaining raw milk from cattle to storing the final product at desired temperature. The entire process needs deep understanding of above mentioned factors. A good understanding for selecting a product, its purchasing considerations and other quality maintenance considerations successfully eliminate the parity between desired quality and the one received. Works Cited Bailey, Kenneth. Marketing and pricing of milk and dairy products in United States. 1st Ed. Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1997. Print. p.46. Early, Ralph. The technology of dairy products. London: Blackie Academic and Professional, an imprint of Thomson Science, 1998. Print. p.215. Feinstein, A. and Stefanelli, J. Purchasing: Selection and Procurement for the Hospitality Industry. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Print. p.468, 469, 472-474 Lynch, Francis. The book of yields: accuracy in food costing and purchasing. Chapter 7. Dairy. 7th Ed. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2008. Print. Read More