Price explosion for milk and dairy products: "This is just the beginning"

Created: 05/02/2022Updated: 05/02/2022 05:49

By: Delia Friess

Food prices are rising because of the war in Ukraine.

Now milk and milk products could also be affected by a renewed increase.

Berlin - Rising prices are now part of everyday life on the shelves of Aldi, Lidl, Rewe and Co. for foods such as sunflower oil and flour.

The shortage of food in supermarkets is one of the consequences of the Ukraine war.

Hamster purchases exacerbate the situation even further.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the consumer price index is higher than ever.

Accordingly, import prices in March 2022 were 31.2 percent higher than in March 2021. According to data from the authority, such a leap last occurred in September 1974 during the first oil crisis.

In addition to sunflower oil and flour, rice has recently become scarce at Aldi, Lidl and Co.

Ukraine war: milk and milk products will probably become even more expensive at Aldi, Lidl and Co

One reason for this is that Ukraine is also considered the breadbasket of Europe.

In addition to Ukraine, Russia is also one of the largest grain suppliers in the world.

In addition, Belarus, which is also sanctioned by the West, is a major fertilizer supplier.

These factors not only affect the local prices for rapeseed and sunflower oil and flour from Aldi, Lidl and Co.

Milk and milk products are now also further affected by price increases.

From the beginning of May, probably as early as next week, price jumps of 20 to 25 percent for dairy products in supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl, Rewe and Co. are expected, the head of a large dairy told the news magazine Spiegel.

And this is "just the beginning, further prize rounds will follow," he emphasized.

The price of milk and milk products is also expected to increase due to the war in Ukraine.

This is unlikely to benefit animal welfare.

© Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa

Grocery prices: Prices for milk and milk products at Aldi, Lidl and Co. are also increasing

Accordingly, the Ukraine conflict also increased the cost of energy for animal husbandry and feed.

However, these costs are not yet fully reflected in the current price increase, the food company Nestlé announced.

The current increases were negotiated months ago, current prices are only being determined these days.

Currently, conventional dairy farmers receive more than 44 cents per liter.

However, the milk price would hardly benefit the dairy farmers or animal welfare and therefore hardly cover the costs of milk production.

War in Ukraine affects milk prices at Aldi, Lidl and Co - prices for feed and fertilizer higher

Experts have long been emphasizing the environmental benefits of milk substitutes compared to conventional milk production.

For a study by the University of Oxford from 2018, researchers evaluated the data from almost 40,000 farms around the world.

Compared to milk substitutes such as soy, oat, rice and almond drinks, cow's milk from conventional milk production took last place in terms of CO2 emissions, water consumption and land use.

(df)