Fernando Collantes’s Milk in Spain and the History of Diet Change offers an original contribution to the literature on food consumption, nutrition, and economic development. Using milk consumption in Spain as a case study, Collantes explores broader transformations in dietary patterns from the second half of the twentieth century to the present. Drawing on decades of research by the author and other scholars, the book combines theoretical reflection with empirical analysis to explain how dietary change emerges from the interaction of economic growth, technological innovation, business strategies, and public policy.
The book is organized into four parts that form a coherent narrative. Each section builds upon the previous one, creating a clear analytical structure that makes the volume both accessible and intellectually engaging. The writing is concise and allows readers from different disciplinary backgrounds to follow the argument with ease.
Part I develops the theoretical framework. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional theories of consumer demand, Collantes situates dietary change within broader processes of economic transformation. He argues that changing diets should be understood as a dynamic component of economic development rather than simply as the outcome of individual consumer choices. To explain these processes, he adopts a neo-Schumpeterian perspective emphasizing innovation, structural change, and the co-evolution of production and consumption. This approach moves beyond demand-side explanations and highlights the role of producers, institutions, and technological change in shaping consumption patterns.
Parts II and III analyze the evolution of milk consumption in Spain since 1950. Collantes identifies two major consumption regimes. The first, which he terms “massification,” extended from roughly 1950 to 1990. During this period, milk consumption increased dramatically, transforming milk from a product consumed mainly by affluent groups into one widely accessible across Spanish society. Although rising incomes played an important role, Collantes demonstrates that income growth alone cannot explain this transformation. Equally significant were supply-side developments, including technological innovations in dairy production and distribution, as well as public policies promoting milk consumption for nutritional purposes.
The second regime, beginning around 1990, is characterized by “sophistication.” While dairy products remained important in Spanish diets, consumers increasingly shifted from fresh milk to processed milk, yogurts, cheeses, and dairy desserts. This transition reflected broader changes in lifestyles, tastes, and market structures. Supply-side factors became increasingly influential as dairy firms diversified their product portfolios, invested heavily in marketing, and pursued product differentiation strategies. Advertising increasingly associated dairy consumption with pleasure and convenience rather than with nutrition and health. According to Collantes, the result was not necessarily an improvement in nutrition but poorer nutritional outcomes.
One of the book’s principal contributions is its examination of the interaction between demand-side and supply-side forces. Historians and economists have often explained dietary change primarily through rising incomes and relative prices. Collantes does not reject these factors but demonstrates their limitations. By emphasizing the active role of firms, technological innovation, and public policy, he offers a richer explanation of changing consumption patterns and contributes to broader debates on consumer behavior and the historical evolution of food systems.
The book’s relevance extends well beyond economic history. Scholars in sociology, public health, nutrition, and food studies will find much of value in its pages. Its findings are also pertinent to contemporary policy discussions. Particularly thought-provoking is the book’s treatment of the relationship between individual choice and collective welfare. Consumers are often assumed to make informed decisions that maximize their well-being; yet Collantes shows how consumption choices are shaped by institutions, marketing strategies, and social norms. His concept of “surplus spending”—the difference between total consumer expenditure and the spending required to obtain a nutritionally adequate basket—provides a useful tool for examining situations in which market outcomes diverge from nutritional or social objectives. The book also highlights how broader economic shocks influence the context within which consumers make decisions.
Another contribution is the quantitative evidence presented throughout the volume. Numerous figures, tables, and a statistical appendix bring together data on milk consumption and related variables in Spain.
If the book has a limitation, it is one that the author himself acknowledges in the concluding chapter: its focus on a single food product. Readers may wish for a more explicit discussion of how the Spanish experience with milk compares with developments in other food categories. Nevertheless, this limitation does not detract from the book’s achievements. Its principal strength lies precisely in its use of a carefully researched case study to illuminate broader theoretical questions.
Overall, the book is an outstanding contribution to economic history. It exemplifies the productive dialogue between theory and historical research, demonstrating how theoretical frameworks can guide empirical investigation while historical evidence, in turn, refines and challenges theory. Beyond its specific focus on milk consumption, the book raises important questions about welfare, sustainability, freedom of choice, and the role of public policy in shaping everyday consumption. Collantes encourages readers to reflect on how seemingly ordinary decisions—such as what to purchase at the grocery store—are connected to larger economic and social processes. As such, it will be of interest not only to economic historians and academics but also to anyone concerned with the relationship between economic development, dietary change, and social welfare.
