2023-07-08 06:31:27
For the first time this year, more cheese will be imported than Switzerland exports, deplores the president of the umbrella of milk producers Boris Beuret. In his eyes, this is a sign that the current system has reached its limits.
Cheese consumption amounted to 22.9 kilos per inhabitant on average in Switzerland in 2022. Although this is a drop of 300 grams compared to 2021, since 2007, it has nevertheless shown an increase of 10 %.
Despite this enthusiasm for cheese, there might be more cheese imported this year than Switzerland exports, warns the president of the Federation of Swiss Milk Producers (PSL).
Liberalization of the relevant market
This phenomenon is “the result of a liberalization, much stronger than for cereals or meat”, comments Boris Beuret on Saturday in The weather. Indeed, since the liberalization of the cheese market in 2007, Swiss cheeses have lost market share (-12%).
Dairy farms are shrinking twice as fast as other agricultural areas, he continues. The price of milk does not cover production costs.
“If we do nothing, we will end up having to import milk”, laments Boris Beuret. This is nonsense, knowing “that in geoclimatic comparison with the international, Switzerland is a country with a dairy vocation”. Its agricultural land is 80% grassland, compared to less than 25% in Germany.
Dairy production is called upon to play a central role in the context of crises in Europe, he adds. “If we want to meet the food needs of the population effectively, we must continue to produce milk throughout the territory”.
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