The latest episode of Midwest Dairy’s Dairy on the Air podcast highlights the recent Dairy Experience Forum and Jonna Schutte, a dairy farmer from Monona, Iowa, and Sydney Milton, dairy category manager from Casey’s General Stores, share their key takeaways from the virtual event that brought together members of the dairy supply chain to better understand today’s consumer.

In the episode, Schutte discusses how comments shared during the consumer panel made her reflect on perceptions of milk as just a beverage option versus a health food. This insight has fueled her interest in focusing on ways to better communicate with health professionals on the health benefits of dairy.

Schutte also talks about how both the consumer panel and a discussion on sustainability has reminded her of the importance of telling not just the sustainability story of her own farm, but of other dairies in the Midwest region.

As a first-time Dairy Experience Forum attendee, Milton shares her reflections on how consumer perceptions shared during the event reinforce buying behaviors she sees in-store at Casey’s such as a draw towards dairy foods offered in non-traditional ways, for example, packaged in combination convenience snacks.

She also talks about how she now sees ways, as a retail partner, Casey’s can support dairy farmers by helping to tell their story through in-store and digital marketing.