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Population decline, negative effect on dairy consumption, demand decreases by up to 30% in the Southeast

Politiko 2025-04-01 15:49:30

Population decline, negative effect on dairy consumption, demand decreases by up

After a decline in 2024, overall demand for dairy products began to recover in the first months of 2025 due to price reductions. However, milk processors continue to point out that consumer demand is declining in the Southeast, as emigration appears to be high. Another problem is the competition of imported goods that come from abroad at cheaper prices than domestic production.

Taulant Pupaj, the director of the milk processing and dairy products production company "Vita", said that currently the demand is 20 to 30% less. The reasons for the decline in demand, Pupaj points out, are emigration to the Southeast areas and high competition from cheap imported goods.

"Dairy product production is high, but the consumption trend continues to decline. For the months of January-March 2025, demand fell by 20 to 30%, compared to the same period of the previous year. The main reasons for the lack of improvement in the consumption trend are the emigration of young people, but also competition with cheaper prices from imported goods.

The HoReCa sector (hotels-restaurants-catering) is increasingly being supplied with imported dairy products, as the price is cheaper.

Pupaj says he does not expect consumption to improve even with the arrival of tourists, as the HoReCa sector also reduced demand for domestic dairy products in 2024, except in 2023 where the effects of tourism on consumption increased by up to 30%.

Luis Ndreka, director of the ADG milk processing company (formerly "Lufra"), also previously claimed that at the beginning of 2025, there was an increase in demand for dairy products in almost all major cities, except for the cities of the Southeast, Pogradec and Korça, affected by the decline in population in these areas.

In order not to lose competitiveness, operators claim they are unable to reduce prices, as they continue to have high production costs due to the expensive prices of milk supplies in the country for raw materials.

According to processing operators, in February 2025 the price of cow's milk on large and small farms in the country ranged from 60 to 66 lek per liter (excluding VAT).

But despite frequent price reductions, which were accompanied by protests by livestock farmers twice in April 2024, milk produced by local farmers continues to remain more expensive, compared to production in the region or Europe.

In the spring season last year, cow's milk from large and medium-sized farms was collected at a price of 65 to 67 lekë, while from small farms at a price of 60 lekë excluding VAT per liter. From imports including the cost of transport and taxes, the price reached 55 lekë per liter, or about 38 lekë per liter cheaper than domestic production.

Experts claim that it is the lack of subsidies per liter of milk produced that creates a huge difference in the selling price of cow's milk compared to farms in the region and Europe./ Monitor