Alternatives on the rise: milk consumption falls to historic lows

Alternatives on the rise
Milk consumption falls to historic low

Whether almond, oat or soy – there are now many milk alternatives. Sales of cow’s milk seem to suffer from the wide range. Per capita consumption is as low as it was 30 years ago.

Milk consumption in Germany fell last year to its lowest level since 1991. As reported by the Federal Information Center for Agriculture (BZL), the per capita consumption of drinking milk in 2021 fell by 2.2 kilograms to an average of just 47.8 kilograms. The increased consumption of plant-based milk alternatives was mentioned as a possible reason.

According to the information, a total of 32 million tons of cow’s milk were delivered to dairy companies, 1.9 percent less than in the previous year. Of this, 31.2 million tons came from domestic producers. The proportion of organically produced milk in milk deliveries in 2021 was 2.6 percent higher than in the previous year and reached 1.3 million tons.

The BZL recorded a decrease of seven percent to 471,100 tons in the production of butter, milk fat and milk spread products. This corresponded to 6.1 kilograms of butter per person, 200 grams less than a year earlier. Mildly acidified branded butter made up the largest share of the total production volume at almost 70 percent, but also recorded the largest decline at minus 13.5 percent compared to the previous year.

Cheese further asked

The volume of cheese produced, on the other hand, rose by one percent to 2.67 million tons compared to 2020. This continued the long-term growth trend in cheese production. However, the per capita consumption of cheese in Germany remained roughly constant at 25.3 kilograms. The export volume rose by almost three percent to 1.36 million tons.

The number of cow-keeping farms in Germany fell by 2,500 in 2021 to 54,800 farms, which kept a total of 3.83 million dairy cows. That was around two percent less than in 2020. The number of dairy cows per farm continued to rise to an average of 70 animals.

Prices keep going up

The dairies in Germany expect further significant price increases for milk and butter. “The consumers have only reached part of the price increases,” said the general manager of the dairy industry association, Eckhard Heuser, the “Handelsblatt”. Wholesale prices have already risen much more sharply, but will only reach consumers towards the summer. “A liter of milk is definitely more than one euro,” estimated Heuser. With butter, he calculated ten cents more per packet.

This is not only due to the increased costs for the producers, but also to the hoarding of consumers. “Unfortunately, hoarding plays a role in the price increase,” Heuser told the “Handelsblatt”. “Consumers freeze butter and stock up on UHT milk.” But the food manufacturers themselves also hoarded. “They store more stocks of milk, butter and cheese in order to always be able to deliver.” This has already led to a relatively strong price increase. There is no shortage of milk in Germany in particular; the country produces much more than it consumes itself.

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