The average Israeli consumed around 157 liters (41.5 gallons) of locally produced milk and dairy products last year, according to figures for 2025 published Sunday by the Agriculture Ministry in the run-up to the Shavuot holiday.

The festival, to be celebrated from Thursday evening through Friday, traditionally sees Jews eating dairy products. According to one interpretation of the tradition, dairy is eaten because Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, which introduced the Jewish people to the laws of kosher observance. As the event took place on a Sabbath, the Jews could not start slaughtering animals or koshering utensils, and so ate milk products instead.

The average dairy cow produced 12,600 liters (3,330 gallons) of milk last year, equivalent to 34.6 liters (nine gallons) per day, the ministry said. This was 44 percent more than at the end of 2016.

There were 602 cowsheds in the country last year, down from 620 at the end of 2024.

In a statement, the ministry noted that the purchases of dairy alternatives, such as soy and oat milks, rose fivefold between 2004 and 2025. Last year, 35.3 million liters (9.3 million gallons) were consumed, accounting for 13% of all liquid milk and milk alternatives. Among the milk alternatives, soy and oat milk were the most popular (respectively 41% and 43% of all alternative milks), with almond milk coming third (14%). Just one liter (roughly a quart) of milk is needed to produce a kilogram (2.2........

© The Times of Israel