Ring in the changes

There is nothing like a new year for a bit of crystal-ball gazing. What do I think will be the top stories in 2013? Well, you probably already know all this, but here I go.

I doubt we’ve seen the end of consolidation in dairy, particularly in Europe. We saw several buys between countries in the European Union, and I suspect this will continue. Dairy Crest in the UK strikes me as a company that might make a worthy marriage in 2013.

I think the rise of Greek yogurt will continue unabated. One interesting aspect is the debate in the US over what constitutes Greek style yogurt, and how it is made. How courts rule will have an impact on the market, but then again, I doubt you could stop this one. I await the permutations of this growth product this year on my supermarket shelves here in the UK.

Big multinationals will continue to court the up and coming populations of the emerging world. Tetra Pak, Nestlé and other giant companies are already making plans to get their products into countries that until recently have barely had a chill chain. And where there is no viable chill chain, the UHT product market is stepping up.

I doubt we’ve seen an end to the volatility in farmgate/feed/input prices, but here in the UK, the voluntary agreements are in place and hoipefully all the players will continue to realise that working together produces results, and not working together produces strife.

This year also marks the beginning of the requirement that food and drinks companies comply with the European Food Safety Authority’s article 13 list of permitted health claims on packaging labels. To date, there are 222 general function approved claims, with more than 1500 rejected so far. However, expect this number to increase as companies sharpen up their pencils and resubmit their claims.

It will always be something in dairy, but with goodwill and hard work, it’ll work out.