One less item in the basket? This adored product of the French and which is part of their daily life is also threatened with shortage!
Soon more milk? While a Syndilat study showed that the French do not consume less 43 liters per year, this flagship product of our daily life is threatened with shortage. Indeed, professionals in the sector are worried about seeing milk disappear from supermarket shelves. On May 4, the National Interprofessional Center for the Dairy Economy pointed out the lack of dynamism in milk production in France. Note that the country still produces 98% of the milk consumed by the population.
However, in 20 years, the number of breeders has decreased considerably. In fact, he passed from 100,000 breeders to only 50,000. On the other hand, the war in Ukraine does not help matters at all. Faced with rising production costs and energy prices, they are increasingly turning to other, much more attractive crops. Namely rapeseed, barley or wheat. The latter have also seen their prices soar since the start of the conflict. But that’s not the only reason that could cause a shortage of milk!
Consumption: between rising prices and shortages
Added to all these obstacles is the drought. Since the beginning of the year, France experienced a rainfall deficit which directly affects fodder and therefore the feeding of cows. “The unit price of fillers in dairy farms has increased by 13% in the space of a year” specifies the National Interprofessional Center for the Dairy Economy. Before adding: “Among the strongly increasing items are energy and lubricants, purchased feed as well as fertilizers and amendments, the unit price of which has doubled in the space of a year.” The president of Syndilait and director of Candia, Éric Forin proposes to increase the price of a liter of milk to deal with the crisis and avoid a shortage. So he wantsbreaking the glass ceiling of €1 per litre” and increase the price by 15-20%. Lactalis, for its part, is also suffering the full force of the crisis. “There is a crisis in all production costs, whether raw materials, packaging, logistics, which we are forced to pass on to consumers.” explains the boss of the group, Emmanuel Besnier to AFP. In total, the world’s leading dairy group expects a total 3 billion euros in additional charges.