CHEESE-MAKERS yesterday sought to assure consumers that no severe milk shortages would arise as a result of a recent intervention in the market by the competition watchdog.
Earlier this week milk suppliers warned of impending shortages after the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) had ordered the Pancyprian Cattle Farmers' Organisation (POA) to supply Pittas Dairies with 65 tonnes of cow milk per day.
The cattle farmers say they have no choice but to comply with the order. But the quota imposed on them for supplying Pittas means they must reduce supplies to other dairy product companies, they claim.
But in a written statement yesterday, the Cyprus Cheese-Makers Association said no milk shortages would arise provided pasteurisers collaborated to ensure a smooth supply to the domestic consumer market.
The association said this would be achieved by temporarily diverting some of the milk quantities intended for cheese-making to pasteurisation.
It’s understood that, either way, August is traditionally a slow month for cheese-making and that cheese-makers operate at below capacity during this period.
However the cheese-makers said the fact they would be receiving smaller quantities of milk would impact their export business.
Companies risked canceling orders from abroad and dissatisfying foreign clients, the association said.
It said that in recent days the reduction in milk quantities has reached 40 per cent in some cases.
The competition watchdog counters that there should be enough milk to go around, accusing POA – which represents about 90 per cent of milk production on the island – of deliberately manufacturing a crisis.
Meanwhile cattle farmers threw another spanner in the works yesterday, announcing that the price of milk is set to shoot up within the next few days.
“Raising the price of milk is our only salvation,” said POA chairman Savvas Evangelou.
The rising prices of animal feed left them no choice, he explained.
Evangelou blamed the government for not allocating farmers all the subsidies they are demanding.
Reacting to the news, the Cyprus Consumers and Quality of Life Association called on the competition watchdog to intervene to stop the price of milk from going up.
Head of the association Loukas Aristodemou said it was unacceptable that fresh milk here costs three times as much as it does in Germany.
