New data from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has revealed that in the first half of the current year (Jan to June) there was an increase in the share of milk going to Cheddar by 0.6% to 23% compared to 2025.
The share of milk going to other products increased by 0.7% to 17% during the same period.
Liquid milk continued the declining trend with milk utilisation at 38%, a decline of 2% compared to 2025.
Production of yogurt witnessed the biggest increase of 11.3% to 278,000 tonnes in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
AHBD said this was due to consumers growing preference for protein rich foods and healthier snacking. Cottage cheese demand has also been growing following boost in demand for proteins, it said.
There was also an increase in milk powders to 66,000 tonnes (+7.6%) and marginal increase of butter by 0.3% at 111,000 tonnes.
AHDB said that changes in the milk utilisation ratio is a function of a variety of factors such as “shifts in consumer demand, returns from products, export demand, processing capacity investments and evolving market conditions.”
AHDB said that while milk production touched record highs in 2025/26 liquid milk production and consumption has been on a continual downward trend as 40% was processed into liquid milk in 2025 compared to 45% in 2015.
However, AHDB said milk flows are set to decline amid the current heatwaves which will evolve processing decisions in the coming years.
Other data released by AHBD said that GB daily milk deliveries, the total volume of raw cow’s milk collected and delivered from farms to processors each day, fell an estimated 3.2% in July year-on-year.
It said heat stress continues to suppress yields while drought has cut forage production, tightening margins further.
Daily deliveries in July averaged 33.28m litres and totalled an estimated 1,032m litres, a reduction of 34m litres (-3.2%) compared to the previous year. This brings milk year to date (April–July) supplies for GB to 2% below 2025 levels.
