Consumption of dairy products may increase by 3.4%
According to analysts, consumption of whole milk products in general for the first 11 months of 2019 decreased by 2.6%, including drinking milk - by 1.6%, kefir - by 5.2%, sour cream - by 3.9%, cottage cheese - by 5.8%, while demand for yogurt increased by 4.2%. Demand for margarine and spreads decreased by 12%, while butter consumption increased by 6% (b2b and b2c segments). However, much of this increase is provided by imported products.
Also, the population has shifted from cheese products to traditional cheeses, including due to changes in labeling and the growing trend for healthy eating and consumption of dairy products without a substitute for milk fat. As a result, the demand for cheese products continued to decline (-26%), and for cheese — to grow (+9%), despite the price increase (+10% for the year in November). According to Artem Belov, General Director of the National Union of milk producers (Soyuzmoloko), production and consumption of natural cheeses may increase by 4-6% next year.
During the XI Congress of “Soyuzmoloko”, Belov noted that last year the volume of commercial milk production amounted to about 19.7 million tons. The total volume of the dairy market in Russia for 2019, according to the Union, increased by 4.6% to 28.6 million tons in terms of milk. This is 1.2 million tons more than in 2018. The average consumption of dairy products increased by about 3% to 236-237 kg per person per year. Demand for milk has largely increased due to the whitewashing of the market - the introduction of the electronic veterinary certification system "Mercury". The change in the labeling of products containing milk fat substitutes and the requirement to place them separately from natural dairy products when selling them also had a positive effect.
Now the issue of technical regulation of products produced with the replacement of milk fat is being discussed, according to the website of the Russian Union of dairy industry enterprises. Earlier, “Izvestia” reported that Rosstandart is considering a proposal for products with a milk fat substitute to get new names: instead of the words "yogurt", "sour cream", "milk", etc., manufacturers will have to write on the labels "cream", "sauce", "drink". The issue of completely excluding milk-containing products from the EAEU technical regulations on milk is also being considered. "The names of products produced with the replacement of milk fat need to be clarified. This is a separate category, their nutritional value is different than that of milk and dairy products", explained a representative of “Soyuzmoloko” to “Agroinvestor”.
During the meeting in the Ministry of agriculture, which was held on February 11, it was proposed to exclude all products produced with the replacement of milk fat with vegetable fat from the objects of the dairy regulation TR CU 033/2013. It is also proposed to prohibit the use of any dairy terms for these products and to introduce uniform labeling requirements for them. Products with vegetable fat, regardless of its quantity, are proposed to be combined into one group - the object of TR CU 021/2011 and set safety and identification requirements for them, HS codes, lists of related standards.
This idea of the Russian dairy expert community was supported by representatives of Armenia, who also participated in the meeting. Others, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, as well as representatives of the fat industry unions, the Ministry of economic development, the Rospotrebnadzor and the Rosselkhoznadzor consider the initiative unnecessary. They argued that the niche of milk-containing products with vegetable fat in the EEU countries is quite large, and enterprises that produce these products will suffer large losses.
