Dutch cheese exports down to EU

Exports of Dutch cheeses dropped by 5% in 2011 to just over 550,000 tonnes. The main reason was a reduction in purchases by the country’s main EU customer Germany, down 4.7% on the year to 189,558 tonnes. Dutch cheese imports by Belgium, Greece and the UK also fell on the year. But the picture was much better for exports outside the EU with the Netherlands selling 4.9% more cheese to these markets in 2011 for a total of 102,901 tonnes.