Online Dairy Sales Rise as Yogurt and Cottage Cheese Lead
United States, September 18, 2026: E-commerce is becoming an increasingly important growth channel for the U.S. dairy industry, with yogurt, refrigerated yogurt drinks and cottage cheese among the categories driving the strongest gains, according to Circana data presented during its Rising to the Top in Dairy webinar.
Circana reported that 113% of dairy dollar-sales growth is coming from e-commerce, indicating that physical-store dairy sales are declining overall while online channels are generating more than the total category growth. E-commerce accounted for 13% of dairy product growth, according to Christine Boule, Circana vice-president for Client Insights, Food & Beverage.
Online dairy sales have recorded a compound annual growth rate of approximately 20% over the past four years, highlighting the rapid expansion of digital purchasing for refrigerated and perishable products.
The shift is also changing consumer attitudes towards home delivery. Most consumers purchasing dairy online receive their orders through delivery, suggesting that concerns about buying perishable foods through e-commerce are becoming less significant.
Boule also cited Amazon data showing that the number of monthly active consumers purchasing perishables had increased by 50% since the beginning of 2026. Consumers who include perishables in their orders purchase an average of three times more units per order, according to the figures presented.
Dairy growth is not uniform across categories, however. Cheese snack kits recorded the highest online penetration, with 22.4% of sales taking place online, while 77.6% were purchased in stores.
At the other end of the spectrum, deli cheese remained heavily dependent on physical retail. 91.8% of consumers purchasing deli-counter cheese bought it in-store. Ice cream also recorded relatively low online penetration at 9.1%, with delivery and melting concerns cited as one factor limiting e-commerce purchases.
Milk represents another significant opportunity for online retail. Circana reported that approximately 12.7% of the $19.7 billion in milk sales tracked in the data came from online purchases.
Within Circana's broader Dairy 15 categories, yogurt and cottage cheese are showing particularly strong performance. Refrigerated yogurt drinks recorded the highest year-over-year growth, increasing 22% in dollar sales and 14% in volume.
Yogurt itself generated 56% of the growth across the Dairy 15, while yogurt drinks contributed another 21%. Together, the two categories accounted for 77% of Dairy 15 growth, according to Circana Principal of Client Insights, Dairy, John Crawford.
Cottage cheese is also continuing its strong growth trajectory. The category recorded 16.9% year-over-year growth in dollar sales and 13.6% growth in volume, reinforcing its position as one of the industry's faster-growing dairy categories.
The growth of yogurt, yogurt drinks and cottage cheese also reflects broader consumer interest in convenient dairy products and nutrition-focused formats. Recent Circana data reported by Dairy Processing showed yogurt retail sales rising 11.6% between July 2025 and July 2026, while cottage cheese sales increased 16.7% during the same period.
For dairy companies, the e-commerce shift creates opportunities to expand beyond traditional supermarket shelves. Products that combine convenience, portability, protein and functional nutrition may be particularly suited to digital shopping baskets.
The data also indicates that online growth is not limited to large supermarket platforms. Circana observed e-commerce growth across multiple retail formats, including mass merchants, grocery chains, dollar stores and value retailers.
As cold-chain logistics and delivery networks continue to develop, the distinction between products traditionally bought in-store and those purchased online could become less pronounced. For dairy brands, packaging, shelf life, delivery performance and digital merchandising are therefore becoming increasingly important alongside traditional retail strategies.
Source: Dairynews7x7 19 Sep, 2026 Read full story here
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