“The story for milk in c-stores is the same for dairy across the industry — alternatives, alternatives, alternatives,” said Mike Kostyo, trendologist for Datassential. “All of the fastest-growing milks across the industry are alternative and plant-based milk options.”
C-stores are noticing and testing the trend. High’s, with more than 54 c-stores in Maryland and Pennsylvania, is seeing more households that use both traditional milk and plant-based milk. Flavored milk sales are also growing for the chain, noted Noah Sanders, senior analytics and implementation manager for High’s.
“We’re offering primarily traditional milk products for take-home consumption,” Sanders said. “We have ventured into plant-based milk in single-serve sizes. Take-home sizes have proven to be difficult to source for us and keep reasonably priced.”
Dairy milk sales lead the category at c-stores, totaling $1.39 billion, up 1.6% for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021. Plant-based milks surged 35% to $4.87 million for the period, with refrigerated oat milk up 193% over the previous year, per IRI.
“The c-store segment actually needs to play catch-up here — we didn’t see nearly as many oat milk launches from major c-store brands compared to other segments last year,” Kostyo said. “Oat milk, in particular, is becoming a default alternative milk variety.”
The trend toward alternative milk is driven by younger demographics. Datassential found 41% of Gen Z said they drink alternative milk either daily or weekly, making it likely the trend will grow.
Kostyo noted the c-store channel was doing a better job compared to other channels on offering flavored milks, which are also a growing segment, up 12.1% for the period. Whole milk is another opportunity for c-stores, and it’s growing on menus. “Consumers don’t necessarily equate whole milk with being unhealthy anymore,” he said.
Looking ahead, High’s plans to grow milk loyalty with competitive pricing and promoting its Milk Club (buy five, get one free), where applicable, while also working with its wholesaler on plant-based milk options and with its dairy to introduce seasonal flavored milks, Sanders said.
Ice Cream
When it comes to ice cream, High’s is seeing more take-home packages featuring new and unique flavors, plus classic flavors with premium/fresh ingredients, said Sherryn Diamond, food service director for High’s.
“Ice cream sales continue to experience double-digit sales growth over the prior year. We expect that trend to continue as we continue our expansion of the ‘ice cream shoppe’ where we combine a nostalgic look and feel of our hand-dipped ice cream and our take-home selection,” Diamond said.
Datassential found fresh-scooped and soft serve ice cream are opportunities for c-stores. “Frozen yogurt and hand-scooped ice cream was the second most popular trending offering we tested with c-store consumers, with over half wanting to see them offered at c-stores, yet it’s still not common in the segment,” Kostyo said.
