The Dutch are drinking less fresh milk, reports Monday’s Volkskrant. This, coupled with low prices in supermarkets and strong competition between producers, is causing problems for the dairy industry in the local market.

‘To stay competitive, you have to innovate,’ Campina spokesman Gerjan Seissink told the paper. ‘People want low-fat yoghurt drinks and organic milk.’
Campina will be closing its milk production unit in Heiloo at the end of 2008, with a loss of 100 jobs. The factories in Rotterdam, Maasdam and Eindhoven, where milk is turned into products such as yoghurt for the local market and powdered and condensed milk for the international market, will not be affected.
Around 10.5 billion kilos of milk is produced each year in the Netherlands, with around 40% of dairy products going to the Dutch market. Another 40% goes to Europe and the remaining 20% to the international market.
According to Campina, within Europe 30% of the milk is turned into cheese, 30% into fresh dairy products like yoghurt, 15% is turned into butter and the rest is turned into powdered milk, some of which goes to the pharmaceutical industry.