YOUR DAIRY PROMOTION AT WORK

YOUR DAIRY CHECKOFF AT WORK

NATIONAL UPDATES –

Your Dairy Checkoff Podcast

Nine episodes give overviews of the ways in which your dairy checkoff is connecting with thought leaders, working through partners and talking to consumers. At www.dairycheckoffpodcast.com you can find these episodes:

• Reaching Gen Z: Through the World of Gaming

• What is the #1 factor driving school milk consumption?

• Does increasing pizza chain sales really help dairy farmers?

• Does dairy benefit from the NFL partnership?

• Is the dairy checkoff really working and worth the money?

• Dairy donations feel good but do farmers benefit?

• Have you ever had 800,000+ visitors on your farm?

• Does dairy fuel elite athlete performance?

• Dairy Innovation: Who is doing it and how does it work?

LOCAL UPDATES –

National Milk Day

UDIM marketed National Milk Day leading up to winter vacation, to gear schools up for the return of students in January. Promoting our Milk, It’s Spot On marketing kits, school nutrition departments were encouraged to celebrate on January 11 and share their celebration for a chance to reward their staff.

Over 60 schools participated by hanging posters, placing clings on windows and mirrors, and dressing up with cow aprons and pants. Schools used their creativity with what’s included in the kit and more to highlight the amazing nutrition milk brings to meals.

Students had so much fun celebrating this promo that we are planning on adding this to the calendar next year too! - Vivian Collick, Kingsley Area Schools

National School Breakfast Week

American Dairy Association Indiana (ADAI) held a National School Breakfast Week webinar with our partners at IDOE and No Kid Hungry Indiana to prepare for celebrations during this exciting week with schools across the state. National School Breakfast Week is March 7-11, with the theme of, "Take Off With School Breakfast." Franklin Community Schools were chosen to have a special celebration with ADAI and our partners to encourage students to start their day off right with a breakfast full of dairy foods. In partnership with No Kid Hungry Indiana, we are collecting stories of school breakfast champions across the state to celebrate those who are doing all they can to make sure students start the day off with a healthy meal. Schools are able to nominate food service heroes in their cafeterias to win prizes and receive statewide recognition as Indiana’s School Breakfast Heroes.

Leveraging Assets to Support Partner Donations for Dairy

Detroit Lions Legend Lomas Brown visited Gleaners for their final Double Your Donation Day of the year. A brief TV segment with Fox 2 news reporter, Amy Adams, sent phones ringing off the hook. Lomas is a long-time supporter of UDIM’s work supporting children in schools as part of Fuel Up to Play 60. The connection for him to feeding students is natural as he sees it in his own work with students where he volunteers coaching on STEM projects. It was a great opportunity to leverage our partnership with the Detroit Lions to support Gleaners in their efforts raising funds to feed families and ensure they have cold milk in their fridge.

Lactose Intolerance Awareness Month

ADAI used the month of February to shed light on the opportunities in dairy for those with Lactose Intolerance. Since many people think that being diagnosed as Lactose Intolerant means giving up their favorite dairy foods, we shared facts about the choices available to still enjoy dairy through our online communications, reaching thousands. The amount of lactose in dairy products are not all the same and there are several choices that could be right for consumers following a low-lactose or lactose-free diet.

Halftime Show Sponsored by UDIM is a Slam Dunk

Halftime Show Sponsored by UDIM is a Slam DunkIn front of a full student section, two University of Michigan students took part in a You’re Gonna Need Milk For That (YGNFT) dunk contest. The finalists were selected from social media voting in a bracket-style competition that was open only to current U of M students. In the end, both finalists electrified the crowd with their dunks, and both students received a scholarship to help fund tuition.

The YGNMFT dunk challenge serves as a unique and innovative way to utilize our athletic contracts to engage our target Gen Z demographic while engaging the entire student body at the university level and giving back to the young people that call our state home.

#FarmTourFridays are Back!

The first virtual farm tour of the year featured farmer Michael Poland and his unique farm story in February. Even though he's from Maine, Michael Poland moved his dairy herd to Indiana in 2002 after attending Purdue University because he saw what a great place it was to dairy farm. The Polands milk around 300 cows in two different ways on the same farm: a rotary parlor and robots. Michael majored in engineering and credits his studies with making him a better dairy farmer. They designed their barns with ultimate cow comfort in mind, using advanced technology to feed and water the cows, clean the aisles, and more. Over 1,000 students attended and asked questions throughout the tour. We are excited to continue offering this popular program in 2022.

Milk Means More Meets the Motor City Cruise

UDIM enjoyed the Motor City Cruise vs. Grand Rapids Gold G-League game at the Wayne State Fieldhouse on January 24, a battle between not just in-state rivals, but two UDIM partners. The game was also a “You’re Gonna Need Milk for That” themed game, featuring in-arena signage, a themed t-shirt giveaway to all attendees, exit sampling with milk and lattes, and, of course, an appearance from Mootilda! UDIM pledged to donate 10 gallons of milk for every point that each team scored, 2,330 gallons of milk were donated to Gleaner’s and the Kids Food Basket in West Michigan!