Consumers should brace themselves for milk shortages throughout the winter season, the Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO) said on Thursday.
MPO spokesperson Bertus de Jongh said the shortage results from price signals relayed to producers two years ago.
”The sharp increase in maize and feeds costs combined and low producer prices forced producers to reduce production in order to survive financially.”
As a result, producers do not produce enough milk to meet consumer demand, he said.
”This is evident in the shortage of milk on supermarket shelves.”
Importing dairy products to supplement local shortages was also not an alternative ”because the weakening rand makes it too expensive to do so”.
”In the long term these shortages will have an extremely negative impact on the dairy industry because consumers will be forced to resort to alternative food sources,” De Jongh said. — Sapa