June is National Dairy Month—a perfect time to celebrate dairy farm families and the wholesome, nutritious products they provide. Each year, Midwest Dairy leverages this key moment to remind shoppers of dairy’s local goodness and inspire them to choose real dairy more often.
This June, we teamed up with retail partners across our 10-state region to share the message “Love Dairy. Love Local.” Research shows nearly half of consumers would buy more dairy if they knew it came from a local farm—and this campaign brought that insight to life.
The stories below highlight just a sampling of the many June Dairy Month activations across the Midwest. Look for even more examples and results in the Winter Dairy Promotion Update magazine, hitting mailboxes in December!
Celebrating Dairy from Farm to Fridge with Coborn’s
Midwest Dairy teamed up with Coborn’s, Cash Wise, and Marketplace Foods to share local farm stories and highlight dairy’s journey from farm to fridge.
- Social posts reached over 75,000 people, featuring an on-farm video with 4th-generation dairy farmer Quinci Schmidt and Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Rachel Visser.
- Healthy, high-protein summer recipes by dietitian Kennedy Youngren inspired families to enjoy dairy in new ways.
- Digital ads, emails, and in-store signage reminded shoppers that 94% of U.S. dairy farms are family-owned and milk travels from farm to store in just 48 hours.
Shopping Fresh with Dairy at Cub Foods
Cub Foods partnered with Midwest Dairy to bring farm-fresh goodness to shoppers through two activations celebrating local dairy. Cub Foods has 80 stores across Minnesota and Illinois.
Cub’s Summer Magazine delivered inspiration for family fun with new summertime recipes featuring real dairy. During National Dairy Month the focus was on telling dairy’s local story. Throughout June, Cub shoppers were greeted with “Shop the freshest dairy in town” messaging and dairy deals. Overall, these efforts generated over 750,000 impressions, keeping dairy front and center during one of the busiest shopping seasons. Although a cybersecurity attack temporarily paused some activations and impacted sales at Cub Foods, the campaign still delivered strong visibility and reminded consumers that choosing local means supporting farm families.
Dierbergs Doubles Down on Dairy
Dierbergs Markets in Missouri and Illinois promoted dairy through their rewards program, offering double on key products each week in June—from ice cream and sour cream to cheese and cottage cheese.
- Weekly recipes tied to each featured product, including Banana Split Shake, BLT Overnight Salad, and BBQ Chicken Pizza.
- Over 144,000 incremental pounds of milk sold.
Dierbergs reported record engagement from rewards members, and the success will inform future campaigns in 2025 and 2026.
Real Dairy, Real Local with Fareway
Fareway Stores celebrated June Dairy Month through an integrated in-store and online campaign showcasing the families and flavors behind local dairy.
- Influencer content from The Hummingbirds network featured personal farm stories and trending recipes.
- A viral cottage cheese chips recipe and live cooking classes connected with shoppers in fresh ways.
- Regional TV and digital channels extended reach, engaging 4.8 million consumers.
The campaign strengthened collaboration between Fareway, Midwest Dairy, and local farmers—highlighting the trust, quality, and pride behind every dairy purchase.
Celebrating June Dairy Month at Hen House
In Kansas City, Hen House Markets featured a summer grilling recipe from local Chef Jasper, Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms, to promote dairy in an easy, flavorful way. The campaign included:
- Video recipe and social media posts featuring dairy messaging.
- Circular ad placements and website sliders.
- Two email blasts linking to the recipe and promoting cheese.
The campaign reached 381,000 consumers with strong engagement and visibility for dairy’s role in everyday meals.
Hy-Vee Spotlights Farm-Fresh Goodness
Midwest Dairy partnered with Hy-Vee and Daisy, a brand selected by Hy-Vee, to spotlight real farm-fresh goodness. Hy-Vee, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, operates 304 grocery stores across eight Midwestern states, including Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, and South Dakota. This campaign featured digital advertising, hot deals, in-store displays, and auto-ship display programs. Overall, this campaign generated over 1 million impressions and sold 171,000 incremental pounds of milk.
Neptune Retail Solutions + Chicory Reach Consumers
Neptune Retail Solutions is a third-party vendor that supports in-store signage for retailers across Midwest Dairy’s region. By partnering with Neptune in June, signage featuring “Love Dairy. Love Local.” was placed in almost 900 stores across the 10-state region. Another partner, Chicory, appealed to recipe seekers across the entire Midwest Dairy 10-state region with dairy ingredients and messaging. These two activations drove over 6 million incremental pounds of milk versus prior year sales into consumers’ homes.
Price Chopper Celebrates with Family Favorites
Midwest Dairy and Price Chopper launched two recipe-based campaigns in June—one focused on kids and another on summer BBQ favorites.
- Recipes included Ice Cream Fruit Tacos, Whipped Feta Pita Boards, and more.
- Shared through email, social media, and print ads with QR codes linking directly to recipes and shopping lists.
Multi-Channel Campaign with Schnucks
To celebrate National Dairy Month, Midwest Dairy partnered with Schnucks Markets on a multi-channel campaign. Schnucks operates 115 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Campaign tactics included digital promotions via the Schnucks app, email blasts, and weekly ads, as well as print placements and off-site advertising through their retail media network. Schnucks was also able to tap into its vendor network to support weekly category deals throughout June. This included “Spend $10, Earn $2” in weekly rewards on all sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese. The retail media network campaign generated over 2.2 million impressions and a return on ad spend (ROAS) of $408. The incremental return on ad spend (iROAS) was $39.87. Dairy sales during this time, far surpassed benchmarks, with over 33% of sales impacted. Overall, 493,000 incremental pounds of milk were sold during this campaign.
Local Flavor, Dairy Love with UNFI
Partnering with United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), Midwest Dairy helped more than 160 stores, including Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Knowlan’s, and Niemann’s, celebrate local dairy across Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri.
- Banner ads and digital coupons featured dairy staples like milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream.
- Shopper extension ads reached new and returning customers online.
Despite a nationwide cybersecurity disruption, the campaign earned 1.5 million digital impressions, proving the lasting power of local storytelling and digital outreach to keep dairy top of mind.
Together, these combined efforts across multiple retailers showcased dairy’s versatility, local roots, and connection to the families who produce it—all while driving measurable results.