Consumers face difficult decisions ahead, says market analyst.

Market analyst NielsenIQ director Faith Lamont told industry heavyweights inflation was running at 5.1 per cent a year and consumers could eventually be expected to exercise more caution around purchases.

"But we haven't started to see a fall-off in terms of the amount of products people are buying," Ms Lamont said.

"What is going to be really interesting, if we continue to see this pressure continue, is that we are going to see a group of consumers who are going to have to make some difficult decisions."

Ms Lamont said only 14 per cent of customers were saying they were struggling financially but 65pc said they were cautious about what they were spending.

"We will see a lot of change, going forward," she said.

"We will see lot of change in loyalty, whether that's to retailer or brand, but we are not quite seeing it just yet."

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Price remained the main driver behind supermarket purchases, Ms Lamont said.

"If we are putting up prices, we need to be educating and communicating with the market, around what are the other values you are getting from your product," she said.

"Across the supermarket that changes from category to category, but it also changes by brand.

"So you need to be thinking about your brand, what can you offer and what can you tell your consumers they are getting from that extra money they are spending."

As dairy was seen as a staple product, it was likely to enjoy more stability in terms of maintaining sales share, she said.

"But purchasing decisions are not just rational - it's not only that the kids need yoghurt for their lunchboxes, but it's also partially emotional as well," Ms Lamont said.

She said she suspected that was down to the desire for consistency and predictability - "we are all a bit sick of how unpredictable the world is.

"That's another attribute the dairy industry has to offer, but don't assume just because you are a staple or non-discretionary category people won't be making emotional choices," she said.

"They may need something that is going to reward them, as a consumer, for the hard week they have had, and maybe they will trade out there staples for that."

Fonterra managing director Rene Dedoncker said chefs were buying more cheese and butter than they ever had before

"Last month was a record month, in out-of-home sales," Mr Dedoncker said.

"(But) we also want to know how to be better chefs at home.

"We are looking for good ingredients, if we are going to have an experience at home, we are going to look for a decent one."

He said the lockdown lessons seem to have stuck, with the value consumers put behind good brands and decent products standing the "test of time."

Meanwhile, Bulla Dairy & Procurement general manager Rohan Davies said the Colac-based processor set an initial opening price in early March, before increasing it to between $8.70 and $8.90 a kilogram Milk Solids.

"We wanted to give our farmers firm, guaranteed prices, so at least they could plan," Mr Davies said.

"A least they have got that in the bank and they can start to make some decisions."

He said there might be room for further increases, throughout the season.

"Inflation pressures and costs are going up in all categories, so we could see that," he said.

Demand for Bulla products remained high, he said.

"People are getting nervous about interest rates so the next 12 months might see some changes, in some parts of the economy, but - for the moment - sales have been pretty strong," Mr Davies said.

"There are still a lot of people at home, cooking, so we are still seeing our retail sales are quite strong.

"When things get tight, people probably scale back from going out to expensive restaurants.

"So it might push us back to eating at home, like they were during some of the shutdowns.

"But we are pretty optimistic about our sales, for the year ahead, despite inflation."