What is in this article?:
- Is the organic milk market headed for a price crisis?
- 2009 all over again?
Rising feed costs, hikes in farmers' wages and weather-related shortages signal a supply crunch and price hike for organic milk products. Is the dairy market headed for another 2009?
Save for produce, dairy products have enjoyed the fastest and largest growth of any organic food & beverage category over the last decade. However, the explosion in popularity of organic milk products is now faced with supply shortages and price hikes up and down the value chain.
Now, as major organic dairy producers Horizon and CROPP (the co-op behind Organic Valley) have instituted 2012 wage increases for their farmers, retail prices are bound to inch ever higher.
Nutrition Business Journal covered this topic in depth in its October Natural & Organic Food & Beverage Issue.
Dairy farmers are no strangers to price fluctuation, tied as they are to a volatile commodity market. In fact, organic dairy faced a similar market conundrum three years ago.