Lactose free, organic, permeate free, gluten free, light, easy to digest – there is no end to the choices when buying the white stuff that comes from cows.
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There are more varieties of milk than there are of Coca-Cola.
But what about milk that can sit in the fridge for three weeks without going off?
That's the new frontier in the competitive battle for Australia's multi-billion dollar milk market with a new $31 million plant opened in Cobden in Victoria's west to process microfiltered milk sourced from local farms.
Microfiltered milk is pasteurised like other milk, but also goes through a microfiltration process that removes more than 99 per cent of the non-harmful bacteria that causes milk to sour.
The new microfiltration Anchor brand milk will have a shelf life around a third longer than normal milk, a big edge for the brand with use-by date a key decision factor for consumers.
Regular milk lasts about 15 days on the fridge shelf. Microfiltration extends this to 21 days.
While microfiltered milk is already available in Canada and the United Kingdom, the new Anchor milk is the first microfiltered milk in Australia and will initially be sold in Victoria at Woolworths.
Those spruiking the premium brand milk say it is "clean on the palate and has distinctly no after-taste".
CHOICE's Tom Godfrey said the new microfiltered milk was great news for consumers who had a problem with milk going off.
But he added that at $3.29 for two litres of full cream, Anchor milk consumers were paying 65 per cent more for microfiltered milk compared to supermarket private label milk, for a 40 per cent longer shelf life in the fridge.
Anchor milk is owned by dairy giant Fonterra and the company's Kiril Simonovski said expiry date was very important to consumers.
"That is primarily because they want to make sure they are not wasting product and have enough to get through their regular week," he said.
But he added the strength of the milk had to be in taste.
"Ultimately we think the strongest benefit is around the taste of the product and the consistency of the taste through its entire shelf life," he said.
Microfiltration changes the bacterial level and not the fat level, so there will be low fat and regular full-cream milk varieties.
Figures from Dairy Australia show full-cream milk is making a comeback.
Full-cream milk sales are up 4.6 per cent, reduced fat is down 5.8 per cent and no fat sales are down 16 per cent, in the financial year to September.
Kim Tikellis nutritionist at Fonterra Australia, said the aim of microfiltered milk was to create a healthy product with an improved taste to increase milk consumption, especially among teenagers.
"If we can convert our children back to drinking cold glasses of fresh milk … that is the big nutritional advantage," she said.
The Australian dietary guidelines recommend adolescents have 3.5 servings of dairy a day. A cup of milk is one serve.
Lucinda Hancock, nutritionist and chief executive of Nutrition Australia Vic Division, said microfiltration did not seem to affect the nutritional value of milk, "so it remains a great source of calcium and protein, plus many other essential vitamins and minerals".
She said dairy was one of the five core food groups that we should aim to eat every day but between 40-90 per cent of Australians didn't get enough calcium, putting them at risk of poor bone health and osteoporosis in their adult years.
John Droppert, industry analyst with Dairy Australia, said the Australian dairy industry was increasingly concentrating on value-adding products in the global market, particularly infant formula and specialty cheese.
He said local milk production was approaching 10 billion litres a year.
Despite Australians drinking more milk, branded product is struggling. There has been a progressive shift away from traditional fresh milk brands since the big supermarket chains slashed the price of fresh milk to effectively $1 a litre in 2011.
Even new product launches, which have tried to carve out a point of difference, have performed poorly.
The Complete Dairy – which Japanese-owned food and beverage company Lion launched last November – has failed to gain any traction according to the latest Aztec grocery scan data. This is despite it including 70 per cent more protein than regular full cream milk, and including no powders or artificial ingredients.
Another brand that was launched recently and has struggled to gain market share, with less than 1 per cent nationally, is Paul's Farmhouse Gold. The brand, owned by Italian dairy giant Parmalat, has used nostalgia in its marketing, saying it has the "wholesome, extra creamy taste of real milk fresh from the farm".
Even non-cow's milk has struggled. Despite the hype around goat's milk, which is a niche segment of the market, it is not growing, with less than 1 per cent of the overall market for the past four months.
