How To Become A Dairy Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dairy manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Got milk? Well, you'll get to manage a lot of it as well as many other dairy products if you take a job as a dairy manager. As a dairy manager, you'll be overseeing one of the most visited departments in a grocery store. That's because, in this position, you'll be in charge of the dairy and frozen foods sections for a convenience store or supermarket.

Some of the things you'll be expected to do in this job include checking and restocking inventory, providing customer service, ensuring foods are not expired, ordering items that are running low, and helping unload daily deliveries. The dairy manager also oversees and directs all functions and activities of the Dairy Department and its associates to ensure that the department achieves its goals.

You'll probably also be asked to train new employees and collaborate with other department managers on store promotions. To do your job well, you'll need to be familiar with the majority of the items in your section and be able to promptly locate them for your customers.

If you want to be a dairy manager, you'll just need to have a high school diploma or equivalent. Previous management experience in the grocery, dairy, hospitality, or restaurant industry may also be preferred.

ScoreDairy ManagerUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,417

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.49%

Black or African American 10.43%

Hispanic or Latino 15.88%

Unknown 4.88%

White 60.77%

Gender

female 15.39%

male 84.61%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dairy manager

Explore dairy manager education requirements

Most common dairy manager degrees

High School Diploma

35.9 %

Bachelor's

28.3 %

Associate

23.8 %

Start to develop specific dairy manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Safety	10.76%
Customer Service	8.87%
Pallet Jack	8.01%
Cleanliness	7.44%
Sales Floor	7.35%

Complete relevant dairy manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dairy managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a dairy manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dairy manager resumes.

Research dairy manager duties and responsibilities

Manage departments including: frozen, dairy, grocery, bulk, beer and wine.
Manage budgets and payroll records, review financial transactions to assure expenditures are authorize and budget.
Order the beer and wine for the store.
Order and stock the produce and dairy departments while bagging and carrying out groceries.

Apply for dairy manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a dairy manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

What is a dairy manager and how to become one

Dairy manager career paths