Getting one’s goat cheese

Alarm bells have been ringing in the British tabloid newspapers over the news that the price of goat cheese is set to soar for the upcoming Christmas season. This is the result of more than 50,000 animals being culled due to Q fever on the Continent a few years ago. Suddenly consumers will be seeing increased prices for goat cheese this year. Looking at the holiday season, this will not be the sole foodstuff to see prices go up, I suspect.

I’d like to report good news on prices, but things are not set to change. For example, Rabobank has released a report on China’s dairy market and its need to import more dairy products to meet growing demand. Currently, large-scale dairy farms in China are now meeting 27% of the country’s demand, which is a great improvement over the 17% in 2008. However, the scale-up is massive and it will still take some time. In the meantime, competition over imports will continue. Dairy prices will be volatile. Business as usual, then.