The cost of milk has increased in Leningrad region
The dynamics "is influenced by feed prices, fuel and lubricants, exchange rates", explains the General Director of the National Union of milk producers (Soyuzmoloko) Artem Belov. — Taking into account the current situation on the market, we predict that the cost of milk will increase by about 12 percentage points by the end of the year".
However, this is not 12%, the real cost growth will be lower. As the expert noted, there will not be a sharp increase in prices for dairy products on store shelves this year. "I do not see any prerequisites for the price growth to be higher than the indicators of consumer inflation", he comments.
Executive Director of the National Feed Union Sergey Mikhnyuk explained "DP" why the increase in the cost of milk will progress. "Now there is a period of high milk, when cows seasonally switch to "green roghage". However, this year there was a fairly tough spring, which has already affected the yield of grain, the same could happen with the yield of grass crops, which has become less", the expert says. At the same time, Mikhnyuk notes that the increase in the cost of milk could also be caused by investment factors: "We do not exclude a decrease in efficiency, which is compensated by an increase in the price".
Getting special codes for food products is no longer a novelty. Soon, all products on store shelves will have a QR code so that the customers know exactly what they are buying. However, manufacturers and experts doubt the effectiveness of such a procedure.
According to Sergey Mikhnyuk, labeling is an ambiguous matter. "This technology involves large infrastructure costs that will affect product manufacturers. And it is unclear what it ultimately guarantees", believes the expert. Mikhnyuk reminded that such a case has already been implemented in alcohol products and there the operators had a stupor when the system began to "double". "We need to measure efficiency and costs", he comments.
The introduction of QR codes for dairy products has not occurred yet. The test mode is currently in progress. The experiment is scheduled to be completed in December 2020. According to Artem Belov, investment and operating costs of the business will be assessed.
"Labeling is necessary for the state to control the production and turnover of milk and dairy products. They want to take a note of everything in order to collect taxes in full", said Anatoly Golov, co-Chairman of the consumers' Union of the Russian Federation, to “DP”. In his opinion, this will not help the consumer much, since the basic information is already on the packaging. "Problems with the implementation of this system have already been in other industries. We need to buy equipment and train staff - this means money and time. Therefore, the introduction of such systems is constantly postponed", comments the expert.
