Crisis breaks the growing scale in the
demand for milk and derivatives
Sílvio Ávila
22
Fonte:
IBGE/MDIC.
MENOS LEITE À MESA
Less milk on the table
Consumo aparente de leite no Brasil
(Em litros/habitante/ano)
Anos
Conab
Embrapa
2011
168,1
168
2012
168,0
167
2013
175,1
174
2014
175,2
174
2015
173,6
170
Spending less at home
Economic recession reaches the consumption of dairy products, reduces
their presence at the Brazilian dining tables in 2015 and possibly in 2016
Innovation
“The main challenge of the sector
consists in the resumption of demand in an
environment where the purchasing power
is shrinking, and the only way to reverse
this scenario is through technological
innovation in products and processes”,
comments Marcelo Martins, executive
director of the Brazilian Association of
Dairy Products (Viva Lácteos). A good
example of this, he says, was the Greek
yogurt, which registered a significant
increase in demand as soon as it reached
the market.
The executive officer also refers to the
relevance of improving the management
processes of the dairy industries, making
them more competitive, recalling,
nevertheless, that many of the industries
have already enacted this renewal process.
On the other hand, the segment is calling
on the government in questions related
to the consumption of dairy products,
which is the case of the alteration in the
Brazilian Food Guide at the Ministry of
Health, which still recommends cheese
with moderation and does not indicate the
consumption of yogurt.
What is asked for, entities of the sector
insisted with Blairo Maggi, minister of
Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, on
21st June 2016, is the recommendation for
cheese and yogurt, in three daily portions,
as an important source of nutrients and
proteins. This potentiality of the products
should be highlighted, just like what
occurs in many European countries,
says Guilherme Portella, vice-president
of the Rio Grande do Sul Union of Dairy
Industries and Derivatives (Sindilat/RS),
which represented the Rio Grande do Sul
industries at the gathering, where they
pursued support at the health division.
The Brazilian dining tables attest to the ef-
fects of the economic problems faced by the
Country, with similar reflections on milk and
milk based products. Estimates for 2015 and
2016 point to a reduction in the consump-
tion of dairy products, proportional to the
drop in production. According to the Nation-
al Food Supply Agency (Conab), consump-
tion could decrease by 1% in 2016, while Em-
brapa Dairy Cattle officials anticipate a drop
of more than 2%, or closer to the 2.8% reduc-
tion detected at the acquisition of inspected
milk by the industry.
“The declining consumption of dairy prod-
ucts is a reflection of the recession afflicting the
Country, which has generated unemployment
and inflation, resulting into a weaker purchas-
ing power”, say Rosangela Zoccal and José
Luiz Bellini Leite, researchers at Embrapa Dairy
Cattle, in an analysis of the scenario in March
2016. About thar year, they make a reference
to a study conducted by Rabobank officials. Ac-
cording to this study, apparent milk consump-
tion in Brazil, taking into consideration the per
capita availability and its relation with income,
should go down even further regarding prod-
ucts of higher added value, like cheese and yo-
gurts,whose consumptioncoulddropby 4%in
Brazilian households.
The analysis conducted by the bank men-
tions company reports that attest to the trendof
people reducing the number of items of a spe-
cific product and going in search of promotion-
al items. On the other hand, he observes that
smaller demandalsomakes it difficult for the in-
dustry to add a markup percentage to the cost
to cover thehigher priceof reduced rawmateri-
al. As to the recovery of consumption, a gradual
resumption is expected inearly 2017. However,
considerable time is needed to recover the lev-
els achieved in the 2013/14 season.
