The IDF Global Marketing Trends Report surveyed marketers in 22 countries and is out now.

I do have a query as to where exactly the dairy will be coming from, as the EU collections and outputs have remained somewhat static over the past couple of years, aside from Ireland, which has powered ahead with its dairy output, just over nine million tons of cows milk collected on the Emerald Isle in 2021, according to the Milk Marketing Observatory. Italy too saw gains, to just over 13 million tons in 2021. (agriculture.ac.europa.eu) Both France and Germany have slightly declined, and the Netherlands continues to drop. Poland was on the rise in 2021, but I haven’t seen the figures in 2022, when Ukraine’s war began.

So far this year, the dairy season is seeing a drop in production of cows milk in Austria, according to Clal of Italy, down by 6.6 per cent from July 2022-January 2023 (clal.it), while New Zealand output has dropped by two per cent.

The interesting thing was the drop of quotas was supposed to make most EU countries output more, but it does go to show there are other forces at work than just the quota system here. As we’ve seen for the past few years, many forces outside the industry’s control exert pushes in the industry itself.

The US is producing more, and exporting more, so that’s a player for adding to supply.

Looking at the overall market, Asia accounts for 24 per cent of global production (another force that will be driving the market), Clal informs us, while North America is 15 per cent and Europe is 20 per cent. The Extra-EU countries account for 10 per cent of total production, and this is probably the first time I have thought being outside of the EU was anything positive. It’s extra!