Andrew McClelland
The Advocate

A recent report from the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec reveals that the number of dairy cows in the province has decreased drastically in the past 40 years.

But the same report also shows that Quebec dairy producers have more than made up for it with their efficiency — producing more milk with smaller herds.

Using figures from Statistics Canada, MAPAQ states that “in the province of Quebec, the total number of dairy cows has fallen by 50 per cent, from 710,000 head in 1981 to 353,000 head in 2022.”

However, figures show that the province’s dairy industry is doing more with less.

“At the same time,” MAPAQ writes, “milk production increased by 21 per cent, from 29 million hectolitres (Mhl) in 1981 to 35 Mhl in 2022.”

Taken together, those numbers reveal that the average Quebec dairy cow is producing 140 per cent more milk in 2022 compared with 1981.

MAPAQ’s report also show that Quebec is leading the country’s dairy production in key areas. The province produces 50 per cent of Canada’s cheese and accounts for 75 per cent of the quantity of yogurt produced in the country.

Milk down, yogurt up

The report reveals some marked changes in consumer habits regarding dairy over the past 40 years.

Overall, consumption of dairy products has fallen by 14 per cent since 1981. That trend is largely driven by a decrease in actual milk consumption: whereas the average Quebecer consumed 55 litres of milk in 1981, and provincial per capita consumption peaked in 1987 at 63 litres annually, the figure now hovers at 30 litres per person. All in all, those numbers represent a decrease of 45 per cent.

Quebecers are also buying and eating less butter.

“From 1981 to 2007, per capita consumption of butter decreased from 4.34 kg to 2.59 kg, the lowest level recorded during the period,” MAPAQ’s report states. “A rise was observed from 2008 to peak at 3.71 kg in 2021.”

Such a drop in milk and butter consumption would have been catastrophic for Quebec’s dairy industry where it not for the great gains made in marketing yogurt and specialty cheeses.

Driven by health food trends and the promotion of yogurt’s probiotic benefits, MAPAQ notes that the consumption of yogurt has increased fivefold in 40 years. Annual yogurt consumption rose from 1.64 litres per person (retail weight) in 1981 to 8.89 litres in 2022. In 2015, annual consumption peaked at 10.99 litres, a level considered by Quebec manufacturers to be a plateau that is holding steady.

Interestingly, 2008 marked the year that yogurt consumption surpassed that of ice cream in the province. Quebecers are now eating far less ice cream than they used to: intake of the frozen dairy dessert has fallen by more than 60 per cent in 40 years, from 12.57 litres to 4.51 litres per year per person.

Specialty cheese capital

Quebec’s status as Canada’s leading cheese producer has meant that it has benefitted greatly from the marketing of specialty cheeses (including mozzarella, but excluding cheddar and processed cheeses).

Per capita cheese consumption across all categories increased by nearly 53 per cent, but specialty or “fancy” and “luxury” cheeses enjoyed huge gains, with annual per-capita consumption rising from 3.03 kg in 1981 to 8.65 kg in 2022.

“These cheeses now represent more than half (58 per cent) of the total volume of cheese consumed per person, compared to less than a third (31 per cent) in 1981,” MAPAQ states.