Dairy products and alternatives in 2025: The big picture
Baby food has reached a plateau with value and volume growth starting to slow in 2025. This slowdown is primarily being driven by slowing population growth in Iraq and a year-on-year decrease in the number of newborns. Additionally, a highly fragmented competitive landscape and a heavy focus on aggressive sales strategies have created confusion among consumers who struggle to find the brand they want while it has created instability for suppliers—raising the risk of market failure.
Key trends in 2025
Health-conscious consumer behaviour is becoming increasingly central across both the dairy and baby food categories. Traditionally, Iraqi diets have been heavily reliant on carbohydrate-rich staples such as bread and rice. However, an increasing number of consumers are turning to dairy products as healthier alternatives. For instance, drinking yoghurt is gaining popularity as a substitute for carbonates and sugary juice products, while products like cheese and butter are being used more frequently as replacements for cooking oils—providing both nutritional value and a higher caloric intake. On the baby food side, many mothers are actively seeking products with enhanced health benefits and richer nutritional content.
Competitive Landscape
Brands such as Dielac, Nestlé, and Bahar Evolac maintain their leading positions in baby food by focusing on a balance of price, quality, and aggressive marketing to drive sales. In the dairy category, Iranian brands like Kalleh and Mihan lead thanks to their competitive pricing and consistent quality, particularly in high-demand daily products like yogurt, soft cheese, and cream. While these brands have secured strong market share in basic dairy items, they have left more complex dairy categories—such as hard cheese and specialty cheese—to smaller regional players.
Channel developments
Small local grocers continue to lead the distribution of dairy products and alternatives in 2025. The dominance of this channel is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, especially for dairy. Small local grocers are everywhere and are easy to access and considering the high daily demand for dairy products, these outlets are also practical for consumers looking to buy from the closest point to their homes. Small local grocers are less dominant when it comes to baby milk formula, with prices often being cheaper in modern retailers. However, with a high number of stores in Iraq, consumers still find it easier to buy from small local grocers due to the proximity of these outlets to their homes. Retail e-commerce is non-existent in dairy in 2025 as there is a lack of infrastructure to adequately deliver and store dairy products correctly so that they can be delivered on time and at the correct temperature.
What next for dairy products and alternatives?
Dairy is expected to see strong and stable growth in value and volume terms over the forecast period, driven by increasing overall demand and a rising preference for higher-quality products. This shift toward quality is contributing to a stronger market performance across both retail and foodservice channels. In contrast, baby food is likely to see slower growth compared to the review period due to declining birth rates. However, as families have fewer children they may be more willing and able to invest in each child’s nutritional needs, potentially supporting premiumisation within the category.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Dairy Products and Alternatives industry in Iraq with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
Data and analysis in this report provides further detailed coverage dedicated to a comprehensive range of core packaged food categories.
If you're in the Dairy Products and Alternatives industry in Iraq, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Dairy Products and Alternatives in Iraq report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes, company and brand market shares
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Dairy Products and Alternatives in Iraq?
- Which are the leading brands in Dairy Products and Alternatives in Iraq?
- How are products distributed in Dairy Products and Alternatives in Iraq?
- How is the rise of e-commerce and/or the expansion of modern grocery retail impacting traditional retail?
- What are the key health and wellness concerns driving, or challenging, sales in Dairy Products and Alternatives?
- How significant are vegan and vegetarian dietary requirements in determining sales growth in Iraq?
- How has COVID-19 impacted consumer demand? To what extent have lockdown, home seclusion and stockpiling boosted sales? Will the longer term economic repercussions of the pandemic stimulate or suppress future growth?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
- How significant will values-based claims, such as sustainability and ethical labelling, be in supporting future growth and brand equity?
Dairy Products and Alternatives in Iraq
Dairy products and alternatives in 2025: The big picture
Key trends in 2025
Competitive Landscape
Channel developments
What next for dairy products and alternatives?
DISCLAIMER
Key Data Findings
2025 Developments
Growth slows but Iraq retains a strong reliance on milk formula
Competive landscape remains highly fragmented
Small local grocers lead sales despite higher prices
Prospects and Opportunities
Milk formula set to remain a staple product for many families
Despite growing focus on health demand is likely to remain driven by price
Lack of regulation presents challenges and opportunities for the market
Category Data
Key Data Findings
2025 Developments
Dairy thriving in Iraq as local companies take up the mantle
Solico Foods remains on top but competition is heating up as demand grows
Small local grocers dominate dairy sales but modern retail channels making inroads
Prospects and Opportunities
Strong growth prospects in store for dairy in Iraq
Focus on healthy eating likely to influence demand and new product development
Limited innovation expected in the market
Category Data
2025 Developments
Prospects and Opportunities
Category Data
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Dairy Products and Alternatives
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- Dried Baby Food
- Prepared Baby Food
- Other Baby Food
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- Liquid Standard Milk Formula
- Powder Standard Milk Formula
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- Liquid Follow-on Milk Formula
- Powder Follow-on Milk Formula
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- Liquid Growing-Up Milk Formula
- Powder Growing-Up Milk Formula
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- Liquid Special Baby Milk Formula
- Powder Special Baby Milk Formula
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- Butter
- Cooking Fats
- Margarine and Spreads
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- Spreadable Cheese
- Processed Cheese excl Spreadable
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- Packaged Hard Cheese
- Unpackaged Hard Cheese
- Soft Cheese
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- Dairy Only Flavoured Milk Drinks
- Flavoured Milk Drinks with Fruit Juice
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- Fat-free Fresh Milk
- Semi Skimmed Fresh Milk
- Full Fat Fresh Milk
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- Fat-free Shelf Stable Milk
- Semi Skimmed Shelf Stable Milk
- Full Fat Shelf Stable Milk
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- Goat Milk
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- Powder Milk
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- Sour Milk Products
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- Drinking Yoghurt
- Flavoured Yoghurt
- Plain Yoghurt
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- Chilled Dairy Desserts
- Shelf Stable Dairy Desserts
- Chilled Snacks
- Coffee Whiteners
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- Flavoured Condensed Milk
- Plain Condensed Milk
- Evaporated Milk
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- Cream
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- Flavoured Fromage Frais and Quark
- Plain Fromage Frais and Quark
- Savoury Fromage Frais and Quark
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- Soy Drinks
- Other Plant-based Milk
- Plant-based Yoghurt
- Plant-based Cheese
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This report originates from Passport, our Dairy Products and Alternatives research and analysis database.
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