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Thursday, February 26, 2004
Aussie dairy group to RP farmers: Focus on fresh milk
By Jessica B. Natad
AUSTRALIA’s dairy industry is asking the Filipino dairy farmers not to compete with Australian dairy products in the Philippine market but to concentrate on producing fresh milk.
“We all have niches in this (dairy) industry. Australian and Filipino dairy farmers have a choice. We can compete, cooperate or compete in a cooperative manner with each other. The latter is often a sensible compromise. It is better to work together rather than place each other out. We can cooperate to grow the market for both domestic and imported milk,” Dairy Australia manager for international policy Phillip Goode said.
Joint project
Dairy Australia is an industry-owned service company whose members are farmers and dairy industry bodies in Australia. It is one of the key partners of the National Dairy Authority in the establishment of the Australian-Philippine Milk Quality Systems Development Project (MQSDP).
He told Sun.Star the Australian dairy industry, recognized as one of the best manufacturers of processed dairy products such as milk and cheese, has recognized that there is a group of consumers in the Philippines who prefer fresh milk produced in the Philippines. This is a growing niche that only local farmers can fill.
Goode also said the Philippine dairy industry still has a long way to go. But if it aims to go international, it must try to develop its production of dairy products that are not found in the international market such as white cheese and pastillas.
He said there is huge potential to grow the Philippines dairy market, which will open opportunities for all kinds of dairy products—imported, locally manufactured from imported ingredients and products made only from local milk.
But one important requirement for dairy producers around the world is to constantly strive to improve the quality of their products.
Cooperate
“In sharing some of our experiences with our colleagues in the Philippines, we are able to help them meet the difficult demands that the world’s consumers are making of us. This increases Filipino consumers’ confidence in all dairy products, which makes it possible for us to cooperate further to grow the market for both domestic and imported milk,” he said.
The Australian government has spent more than P6 million for the MQSDP, a knowledge and technical transfer project that aims to help boost quality standard testing and production of dairy products in the Philippines.
(February 26, 2004 issue)
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