Concluding the first International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) held in the United States in 30 years, more than 1,240 dairy leaders from 55 countries celebrated IDF’s 120th anniversary and highlighted dairy’s innovations, market opportunities and contributions to global sustainability, food security and more.

IDF President Piercristiano Brazzale and Director General Caroline Emond, along with U.S.-IDF Co-Chairs Nick Gardner and Shawna Morris emphasized the importance of bringing the global dairy sector together and released a declaration statement that called on governments, global organizations and the world’s food and beverage sector to support “Being Dairy.”

“As it has been since the first World Dairy Congress held in 1903 in Brussels, the IDF WDS has been an unmatched opportunity to collaborate on the most promising opportunities and most important challenges in the dairy sector,” Brazzale said. “The hard work and dedication of everyone in the dairy sector produces delicious, nutritious, and simply irreplaceable food that feeds more than 6 billion consumers and sustains one billion livelihoods globally.”

The summit delivered four days of dynamic programming, including eight main sessions and 21 break-out sessions focused on policy, scientific and technical insights and exclusive market analysis. IDF also released the World Dairy Situation Report 2023, its 2022-23 annual report and announced the winners of its second annual IDF Dairy Innovation Awards, which celebrate and encourage innovative practices across the world.

“U.S. dairy is honored to have hosted this momentous IDF WDS 2023, bringing dairy’s premier annual gathering to the United States for the first time in three decades,” said Gardner, who also serves as the Chair of the U.S. Committee to IDF and as U.S. Dairy Export Council senior vice president for sustainability and multilateral affairs. “Hearing from world-renowned speakers, forging relationships with peers, and even visiting some of the United States leading dairy regions – IDF WDS 2023 participants have seen U.S. dairy’s contributions first-hand and further strengthened our collective ability to champion dairy’s critical role in nutrition, food security, environmental stewardship, and more.”

Session highlights included:

• Global Leaders Forum featuring Piercristiano Brazzale, President (International Dairy Federation); Barbara O’Brien, President and Chief Executive Officer (Dairy Management Inc.); Yohichi Ohnuki, President (Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd.), and Chairman (J-MILK); Miles Hurrell, Chief Executive Officer (Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd.); Patricia Stroup, Chief Procurement Officer (Nestlé); and, Jayen Mehta, Managing Director (Amul – Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing).
• IDF’s collaboration with international standard setting bodies, featuring Jamie Jonker, Chair (Chief Science Officer, National Milk Producers Federation); Raj Rajasekar, Vice Chair (Codex Alimentarius Commission); Paul Mennecier, Chair, (ISO Technical Committee on Food Products); and, Caroline Emond, Director General (International Dairy Federation).

• Global efforts to build dairy demand together featuring Lloyd Day (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture), Ida Berg Hauge (Norwegian Dairy Council) and Ricardo Villavicencio (Canilec).
• Dairy farming around the world panel, featuring Joanna Shipp, Chair (National Dairy Promotion and Research Board); Eduardo Schwerter, President (The Pan-American Dairy Federation – FEPALE); Steen Nørgaard Madsen, Chair (Danish Dairy Board); Margaret Munene, Managing Director (Palmhouse Dairies Ltd.); and, Simon Vander Woude, Chair (California Dairies, Inc.).

• Global dairy processing opportunities and challenges, featuring Philip Vanderpol, Chair (Dairy Processors Association of Canada) and President and Chief Executive Officer (Vitalus Nutrition Inc.); Mike Durkin, President and Chief Executive Officer, (Leprino Foods); Claudio Rodriguez, Executive Director and Chairman of the Board (Gloria Group); Zhanyou Yun, Vice President (Yili Group); and, Heike Steiling, PhD, Head of Nestlé Product Technology Centers Dairy (Nestlé).

Details on the full program can be found on the website.

IDF WDS 2024 will be held in Paris, Oct. 15-18, with the theme “Dairy 4 the Future.”

“Closing IDF WDS 2023 and looking ahead to IDF WDS 2024 in Paris, we are more inspired and energized than ever by the consistent improvements and successes our sector continues to drive,” Brazzale said.

For more information and to subscribe for updates, visit www.idfwds2024.com/.