Dairy sector could grow more
A report issued by the privately run business research firm ICAP indicated that Greece’s dairy products sector had potential for further growth in sales. Quality products, including highly pasteurized milk, fresh pasteurized milk and export-oriented yogurt for European markets, could bolster their market presence further, the report said. The ICAP report noted that it did not expect changes in market trends for products such as long-life milk, butter and cream, while it predicted a decline in sales for canned evaporated milk. On the entrepreneurial level, the report noted that it expects firms in the sector to collaborate with the aim of offering a greater variety of products to the market, expanding distribution networks and, generally, bolstering their market positions. Between the years 1998 and 2002, consumption of highly pasteurized milk had more than doubled in Greece, the report noted. Between 1994 and 2002, domestic consumption of fresh pasteurized milk grew at an annual rate of 3 percent, said the ICAP report. The average annual growth rate of yogurt consumption in the Greek market between 1994 and 2002 ran at 5 percent, according to the report. European-type yogurt cornered the local market’s lion share during this period. The greatest proportion of butter and dairy cream sales was generated from other businesses who used them in their own products, the ICAP report said. Greece’s dairy sector is made up of a significant number of producers that vary tremendously in size as well as in operational methods – including the size and organization of distribution networks.
