As 2026 approaches, businesses across the value chain are dealing with a convergence of pressures that feel qualitatively different from previous cycles. Cost inflation has not unwound cleanly. Labour availability remains structurally tight. Sustainability expectations are accelerating rather than stabilising. Retail, foodservice and export dynamics are fragmenting. And consumer relevance, once assumed, now needs to be actively defended.

Individually, none of these issues are new. Collectively, they are reshaping how decisions are made — and how risk is managed — across the sector.

That is the context in which Dairy Mail, in partnership with Dairy Connect, is launching a new industry research initiative focused on the real operating pressures, capability gaps and friction points facing UK and Irish cheese and dairy.

This is not a trend exercise. It is not a temperature check. And it is not designed to produce generic conclusions.

The intent is more practical: to build a clearer, evidence-based view of where the system is under strain, where effort is being misdirected, and where targeted intervention could unlock disproportionate value over the next 12–36 months.

What the Research Examines

The research spans the full operating system: commercial access across retail, foodservice and export; capability from productivity and NPD through to data and investment confidence; and sustainability as a delivery challenge shaped by regulation, reporting and buyer expectations. It asks a deliberately direct question: if one friction point could be removed in the next year, what should it be?

Crucially, the work is designed to distinguish between roles and realities. The pressures facing producers are not identical to those facing processors, suppliers or specialist partners. Scale matters. Route-to-market matters. Confidence in consumer insight matters. Too often, industry debate flattens these differences. This research is intended to surface them.

Why This Matters Now

Because the next phase of cheese and dairy will not be defined by ambition alone. It will be defined by execution — by where businesses choose to simplify, where they choose to invest, and where collaboration replaces duplication. Without a clearer shared picture, the risk is that energy is dispersed across too many initiatives, none of which move the dial far enough.

The findings from this work will inform future Dairy Mail reporting and commentary, grounding insight in operational reality rather than assumption. They will also shape Dairy Connect's 2026 agenda — from leadership forums and practical clinics to pilot programmes, introductions and shared learning initiatives.

This is, at its core, an invitation to the industry to help set its own priorities.

Participation takes around ten minutes. Responses are confidential and aggregated. The value lies not in any single answer, but in the collective signal that emerges when experience is brought together.

Progress rarely starts with consensus. It starts with clearer questions and collective honesty about where the friction really sits.

The research closes on Friday, 28 February 2026. We encourage producers, processors, suppliers and specialist partners across UK and Irish cheese and dairy to contribute their operational reality.