What impact does the decline in milk consumption have on the life of non dairy Germans?
8/8/2024
Source: YouYou German official account
As milk consumption has declined, sales of plant-based milk substitutes such as oat milk have increased. There are two main effects.
1.Butter and cheese consumption is also falling
Butter and cheese, an indispensable consumption of the German table, are also greatly reduced.
Consumption of other dairy products is also falling: annual butter consumption fell by 12.6 per cent, with per capita consumption slightly below 5.3 kg last year. Cheese consumption also dropped from 25.3 kg in 2021 to 24.6 kg last year. Only the per capita consumption of protein-containing dairy products needed for exercise nutrition and baking mix increased by nearly 4% to 610 grams.
Still, Steffen Dunger, general manager of Vogtlandmilch Dairy, is critical of the hype surrounding oatmeal or soy drinks: ” Young people think they are enlightened and turn more to these new products because it’s fashionable. Five years ago, drinking lactose-free milk was fashionable, and many people drank it lactose intolerance or not. Oatmeal or soy drinks are now very popular with many people.”
2.Cattle farms have been reduced in large numbers
The decline in milk consumption has also affected milk production in Germany. Milk production fell more than 6 percent last year to around 4.2 million tons, according to BLE.
The number of farms with dairy cows decreased from 54,800 to 52,900. The number of dairy cows decreased by about 23,000, with an average of 72 cows per farm. On the other hand, the average annual milk yield per cow rose slightly again: from 8,481, kg to 8,499 kg.
