GERMANY – There will be continued discounter pressure on milk processor margins in the foreseeable future, according to Dr Manfred Tag, president of the German milk industry association Milchindustrieverband (MIV).

Speaking in an interview with the dairy magazine Milch-Marketing, Dr Tag did however suggest that there was always a silver lining, even to this particular cloud.

He was referring to a new type of consumer in northern Europe: the hybrid shopper. This valuable species still buys food under own labels in the big discounters, but is willing to spend much more on certain favourite brand names and shops regularly in premium outlets for these.

One of the most important motors for this polarisation, according to the MIV, is the tremendous level of innovation within Europe’s largest national dairy industry, which keeps customer demand for premium products high.

A report issued this month revealed that in 2002 over 330 new products and packaging ideas were launched by the dairy industry in Germany, an average of 28 per month.