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EU: Food inflation galore
  • In Germany prices of dairy products are on sharp rise. Butter in German supermarkets now cost 60 percent more compared to previous year, cottage cheese and ultra-pasteurized milk cost 26 percent more, hard cheeses cost 11 percent more.

    In France butter cost increased 92% since start of 2017.

    Btw one of main reasons is that Chinese consumers prefer milk and butter produced outside China :-)

  • 5 Replies sorted by
  • Yes, indeed, it is specifically the Chinese demand for dairy products that caused these prices to rise - and let's not forget that they were rising from an exceptionally low level, which was so low that many farmers even gave up their production because it wasn't profitable anymore.

    So in a way you could say that the Chinese demand has normalized the pricing of dairy products here.

  • Dairy farmers in the UK have been struggling for years under the cosh of the big supermarkets, good for them if their products can command a higher value.

  • Some foods in France still cheaper than same in Northern NJ or California

  • Dairy and most other crop prices in the USA are down from a few years ago. Things are pretty tough for Farmers right now in the USA. I believe Farm Machinery Sales are down as a result. The small hobby farmers are what is keeping the Tractor/Implement companies going right now.

    Also, yes, the Chinese are buying from outside China because they don't trust their own product. Buying up Chicken and Pork producers in the USA for example.

  • A sharp increase in global demand has caused the wholesale price of butter to nearly double in Europe. Consumers are paying more too: retail prices jumped nearly 20% in June over the previous year, according to data from Euromonitor.

    "The price of butter, while certainly volatile, has never reached such a level before," the group said in a statement. "Butter shortages appear to be a real threat by the end of the year."

    Chinese demand for foreign milk products is booming. The USDA predicts that Chinese milk imports are expected to jump by 38% this year, with almost all of it coming from the EU and New Zealand