Deficiencies help cow's milk
Made in France challenge for goat milk
Made in France. In France, rules have been introduced to boost the use of products produced in France. This means a premium for French farmers, but for a country that exports to France, such as the Netherlands, it can cause problems. At first, goat milk in particular seems to be bothered by it.
Originally, France had planned to implement the new rules in the spring, but that caused too many problems for producers. There was a transition period, but now the ball is starting to roll. To help French farmers, supermarkets are boosting the sale of French products. Only raw materials produced in France may be processed in it.
Deficiencies help
The noises from the market indicate that it does not present any obstacles for the sale of dairy products made from cow's milk. It does require creativity. It helps that France produces less milk itself, so that the demand is high enough to prevent Made in France from being at the expense of Dutch sales.
The British had previously introduced such a label to boost the sale of British dairy, among other things. Then it had consequences, because the British discovered that some large chains still used dairy from the mainland. It disrupted the spot market.
Problems in goat milk
This indicates that as soon as milk production in France recovers, sales will become more vigilant. Some players in goat's milk are already experiencing this. Despite the fact that the French livestock farmers cannot produce enough of this to meet all the demand, the conclusion of new contracts appears to be difficult and this disrupts the market.
Onno Boersma, secretary and treasurer of the Dutch Goat Dairy Organization (NGZO) and the director of GemZu (dairy trade), agrees that the trend towards protectionism is a bad development. Not only France, but also Italy and Lithuania chose to conduct a trial with protection of origin. France is important for goat farming, but Italy plays an important role when it comes to cow's milk. Boersma says that there is already a single player who had to deal with questions about the origin of the cheese.
Boersma fears that the first trials with protection of origin will fuel more. 'It is therefore a broad trend.' The Netherlands sells many products across the border. Other European member states are still the main customers. As Brexit draws closer, the importance of keeping other markets open is increasing. Anti-globalization is an important topic for dairy, which will be discussed further in the near future.
Herman van den Pol
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