Cheese exports: Japan demand 'surprises' economist, while processor looks to China

Changing Asian diets have created strong demand for cheese in places like China and Japan and the Australian dairy industry is likely to benefit. By Bridget Fitzgerald
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp
Share on email

Western food trends like pizza driving Chinese cheese demand
Australia’s second largest dairy processor Fonterra has forecasted its cheese production to more than double by 2020, thanks to Asian demand.
Milk powder currently makes up approximately half of what Fonterra produces from its dairy farms in New Zealand and Australia.
But in the next four years, cheese production is estimated to be on par with its milk powder production.
Fonterra Australia general manager of milk supply Matt Watt said the «changing Asian diet» was to thank for the strength of cheese exports into Asia.
Mr Watt said more than half of all pizzas in China were topped with Fonterra cheese.
«It’s the changing nature of the Chinese diet, so what we’re seeing is more and more western influences on their cuisine,» he said.
The growth in demand for cheese is also behind a multi-million dollar development of Fonterra’s hard cheese plant at Stanhope in northern Victoria.
Mr Watt said he had been pleasantly surprised by the demand for cheese, which had grown even more than expected.
«The market is really strong and its positive so what we’ve seen since we started the planning of the rebuild of the site is our projections on mozzarella increase,» he said.
«What that’s meant is we’ve made an additional investment to our Tasmanian cheese capacity, so it can do more cheddar cheese, providing the additional space to do more mozzarella.»
Mr Watt said cheese was a lucrative market, and arguably more stable than milk powders.
«What we see in cheese returns relative to the likes of powder is a more stable return over time,» he said.
«That’s important for our business and it’s also important for our farmers.»
Source: ABC
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-12/changing-asian-diets-creates-opportunity-for-australian-dairy/7926254

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

Te puede interesar

Notas
Relacionadas