USDEC's long-standing efforts to build relationships in Mexico center on growing dairy consumption to boost nutrition and benefit the dairy sectors in both countries.  

The U.S. and Mexican dairy industries may be separated by a border, but we are united when it comes to our collective desire to grow dairy consumption, foster vibrant dairy farming and processing economies, and ensure more people have access to dairy nourishment. Those mutual desires are clear in the unique, multifaceted partnership the industries have been cultivating for many years.

For decades, U.S. and Mexican dairy producer and processor organizations have been building bridges to highlight how we can work together for the mutual benefit of consumers and businesses in both countries. Our goal since the beginning has been for the American and Mexican dairy industries to grow together. USDEC has always seen Mexico as a partner first and a customer second.

U.S. dairy partnerships extend from individual farmers and processors to industry associations, universities, and state and local governments. The U.S. dairy industry is, in fact, a permanent investor in the Mexican market, working with producers and processors on the ground to increase milk and dairy consumption.

The dairy industries on both sides have enjoyed the success that this collaboration continues to bring.

Trade helps build dairy demand
It is no secret that Mexico is the top market for U.S. dairy exports. A key to strengthening that relationship has been the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Prior to the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, U.S. dairy exports to Mexico tallied $211 million. In 2011, Mexico became America’s first $1 billion dairy export market. By 2025, U.S. shipments of cheese, skim milk powder, whey and other products had grown to nearly $2.5 billion.

But U.S. growth has come in tandem with Mexican dairy sector growth. The U.S. actually doesn’t export more as a percentage of Mexico’s overall dairy consumption than it did in 1994. Meaning: Mexican dairy consumption and Mexico’s dairy industry have grown steadily along with U.S. imports.

That’s because Mexican dairy consumption has blossomed since the trade pact. USDEC-sponsored research found that Mexican per capita dairy consumption grew by more than 45% from pre-NAFTA levels through today.

The economic growth ushered in by open trade with the United States promoted several positive parallel dairy developments. It fueled Mexico’s middle class expansion, furthered urbanization and increased cold storage capacity, to name a few. Such developments fostered greater vertical integration within the domestic dairy sector and with North American producers, improving dairy product quality and variety. And it laid the groundwork for expansion of the Mexican dairy farming and processing sectors even as demand grew for dairy imports. As a result, milk production in Mexico has increased over 65% since the implementation of NAFTA.

Opportunities to increase consumption
Despite such growth, Mexico still faces a domestic dairy shortfall. In addition, while Mexico’s per capita consumption has grown more than 45% since 1991, it not only remains less than half of U.S. per capita consumption, it also falls short of many of its Latin American neighbors, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica. In other words, there is significant upside for future dairy expansion.

Growth is being supported by both the public and private sectors in Mexico. The government of Mexico has increased its distribution of milk to low-income families through the Liconsa program, which utilizes domestic milk and imported skim milk powder to provide nourishment to more than 6 million people in need. Mexico’s cheese market continues to expand due to a confluence of factors including increased wages, social support programs and population growth. The food processing sector remains a bright spot in Mexico’s economy, following U.S. restaurant trends and driving demand for international dairy ingredients like mozzarella for pizza.

U.S. dairy suppliers plan to continue to work alongside our Mexican counterparts to continue turning growth potential into reality. To help food manufacturers identify new opportunities to utilize dairy in their products, USDEC has co-hosted hundreds of technical workshops across the country. The workshops help small and mid-size companies incorporate both American and Mexican dairy ingredients into their products to provide better nutrition and food quality to their customers. Often, these companies also operate small dairy farms of their own—another example of how the U.S. industry is collaborating directly with dairy producers in Mexico.

World Milk Day
World Milk Day, held every June 1, provides a high-profile opportunity for USDEC to work with Cámara Nacional de Industriales de la Leche (CANILEC), Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas (CNOG), Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Leche (AMLAC), Consejo Nacional Agropecuario (CNA) and local government officials in Mexico to celebrate the benefits of dairy.

World Milk Day gives us the chance to take time out to celebrate why milk consumption is so important. This annual event puts our commitment to working with the Mexican dairy industry on full display.

USDEC has co-sponsored several different types of activities for World Milk Day, ranging from a news conference addressing the importance of milk and dairy nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, to a seminar for academics and the medical community on milk, dairy products and nutrition, to a soccer game where milk, cheese, yogurt and other dairy products were distributed to student athletes and their families.

The event is also an opportunity to defend milk’s good name against anti-animal-protein detractors. As in the U.S., vocal critics in Mexico are promoting dairy imitators that simply cannot match the nutritional benefits that real dairy provides. World Milk Day is a chance to highlight dairy’s role in sustainability and food security.

This full-page ad highlighting U.S. cheeses and offering a cheese-and-squash quiche recipe aligned with local tastes ran in a special supplement on milk and dairy in the Reforma newspaper as part of USDEC’s 2024 World Milk Day activities in Mexico.

An industry educational conference—“The Power of Dairy”—took place in conjunction with USDEC partner Tec de Monterrey (TDM) University as part of USDEC’s 2022 World Milk Day slate of activities. The event attracted more than 170 dairy industry leaders, personnel from food processing companies, academics and food science students to TDM’s Querétaro campus. Here, USDEC staff get into the World Milk Day spirit along with presenters and some of the food science attendees.

Binational dairy meeting showcases shared commitments
Substantial planning and preparation goes into World Milk Day. But it is only one day of 365. USDEC and Mexican dairy leaders have developed a robust and mutually beneficial relationship over the past two decades that extends throughout the year. That commitment is renewed during the annual Binational Dairy Meeting between U.S. and Mexican dairy industries.

This meeting is an opportunity to reaffirm the countries’ joint commitment to each other and update the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining shared priorities and goals. This type of collaborative, long-term approach has differentiated the U.S. from other international dairy suppliers.

Top priorities include lifting dairy consumption in both countries, promoting science-based trade policies, enhancing animal health coordination, defending dairy’s reputation and promoting its nutritional benefits, and defending common names for dairy products.

Our industries share so many similar challenges that call for us to work together. Mexico is and will continue to be an invaluable partner for U.S. dairy. These meetings help strengthen those ties and set the dairy sectors in both countries up for continued success.

The 2025 meeting took place at the end of May in Madison, Wisconsin. (Yearly meetings alternate between Mexico and the U.S.) USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden had this to say about this year’s summit: “Challenges like trade instability and misinformation about the nutritious benefits of milk and milk products aren’t localized. They extend beyond borders, which is why working together is essential. … These meetings not only reinforce our partnership but also help us prepare for a stronger, more resilient future.”

Representatives from the U.S. and Mexican dairy industries at this year’s U.S.-Mexico Binational Dairy Summit, which took place in Madison, Wisconsin, May 27-29.

More to come
Looking ahead, USDEC and its members will “stay the course” to continue this same multi-faceted engagement in Mexico. Given that Mexico is one of the top economies in Latin America but ranked in the middle in terms of per capita dairy consumption, there is still a lot of space for U.S. imports to grow along with the domestic industry, which in turn creates opportunities for farmers and processors in both countries.

Today, the Mexican government sees the U.S. as a true partner. The U.S. dairy industry does not take that partnership for granted. USDEC will continue to be a well-established presence in Mexico to ensure more people have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of dairy.

Becky Nyman is a U.S. dairy farmer and chair of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. 

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council fosters collaborative industry partnerships with processors, trading companies and others to enhance global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. USDEC is primarily supported by Dairy Management Inc. through the dairy farmer checkoff.