GM free gains traction in German dairy

An estimated 4.5% (1.3 million kg) of all milk delivered to German processors is now produced under so-called “GM-free” rules, meaning that feed for cows producing the milk is certified as free from any gene modified crop components such as soybean meal from the US. German cattle breeding magazine Elite reports that the amount of GM-free milk produced in the country was now double the tonnage of organic milk, with demand rising fast.

In fact the results of a German Forsa survey indicate that 80% of consumers prefer their food without gene modified input. The trend is also driven by processors themselves with over 20 dairies marketing at least part of their respective ranges as GM-free – and paying their suppliers an average bonus this summer of 2.2 eurocents per litre for delivering milk so certified. Main players include international names FrieslandCampina, yogurt specialist Bauer and Zott with its mozzarella range, plus a swarm of smaller dairies such as Berchtesgadener Land and Schwarzwaldmilch, most of them marketing premium branded products bearing a GM-free logo. There’s a north-south division in the trend towards more GM-free milk with some 20% of all deliveries in Bavaria now reckoned to come under this description and much fewer in the north.