Let the good times roll says Nordmilch ceo

Manfred Tag, chief executive officer of the Nordmilch dairy and chairman of Germanys Milk Industry Union (MIU), has predicted good times ahead for the European milk pro- cessing industry.
Tag has said he sees new and huge milk markets developing in at least some of the countries queuing to join the European Union at the start of the next millennium. He makes the point that these Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are already among the best export customers for European dairy industries, and a reduction of border barriers to imports can only mean increased sales.
The countries offering the most potential, says Tag, are Estonia, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. He argues that consumption in these places is low, which means it is likely to grow.
Average annual per capita consumption of milk in CEE countries is only about 69 litres. In contrast, the figure is 115 litres for the EU. Annual CEE per capita cheese consumption, meanwhile, is just 4kg. In the EU, it is 17kg and rising.
Domestic milk production, on the other hand, has taken a tremendous hammering in most countries. Even though major Western companies are already starting to invest in a better dairy infrastructure in Central Europe, there is still a lot of catching up to do.
Milk production in Poland in 1996 was down by 25% on 1990. In both the Czech Republic and Hungary, meanwhile, the decline was 36%. European processors have the best chance of filling in the supply gaps, says the MIU.