Milk market dominated by multinationals, raw milk imports increase by 57.4 pct in H1 (study)

The production of milk products and imports have recorded increases in the first six months of the year, over the similar period of 2019, the milk market being dominated by multinational companies, show the results of a study conducted by the Tara Mea [My Country] Cooperative, given on Monday to the public.

According to the quoted source, raw milk imports increase in the first six months (57.4 pct), reaching 72.212 tons, compared to 50,552 in the same period of 2019. In June 2020, imports stood at 9,473 tons, compared to 6,019 tons in June 2019.

The data centralized by the Tara Mea Cooperative reveals the fact that cheeses represent a market dominated by foreigners. The main players on the cheese market are the companies Hochland, Savencia, Covalact, Lactalis, Albalact, who own nearly half the market from the value point of view on the IKA segment. The most important 100 pct Romanian brands are Solomonescu and Tara Mea, which are in the top of Romanian consumer preferences.

According to the same study, the production of milk for consumption, in the first semester, was of 183.245 tons, by 20,333 tons (+12.5 pct) more than the similar period of 2019. In June, production reached 27,479 tons, a drops by around 2,000 tons compared to the previous month.

The study also reveals that the Bio market is growing. "Even if bio products at this time have a share of only a few percent in the total of the milk market, the development of the segment in the last period is not to be neglected. The big producers also started looking with higher and higher interest towards this niche, in the context of consumers becoming more and more interested in food that is as natural and healthy as possible," claim the authors of the study.

The Tara Mea Cooperative owns three milk and milk product factories in Berca (Buzau County), Arad (Arad County) and Barlad (Vaslui County), each delivering 100 tons of milk products per month.