Although there is a 70% deficit of raw milk in the market, the number of farms cannot increase, - Nikoloz Beniaidze, the founder of dairy products manufacturing company "Shiraki" and Chairman of the Georgian Dairy Association, spoke about this while assessing the challenges in the sector with BM.GE.
According to him, powdered milk imported from Iran, Belarus, and Russia has appeared on the market, the cost of which is so low that raw milk cannot compete with it. As a result, the price of raw milk has decreased.
"There are unregistered so-called enterprises, which hinder the development of the sector. The prices that were reduced for raw milk last year are maintained this year. So far, the sale value is neither decreasing nor increasing.
1 liter of milk costs an average of 1.75-1.90 GEL. However, collected milk is cheaper because small farms cannot meet standards and quality requirements. The Dairy Sector Modernization and Market Access Program is a very good program, it offers a 5-million, 7-year loan with preferential terms, but farmers are not very enthusiastic about it because it's a very high risk. Production is expensive due to the price, it's an extremely difficult sector. If market falsification is not corrected, the sector cannot develop," - Beniaidze said.
