This article first appeared on RTL.de

The dairy industry association assumes that the producer prices that farmers receive for their deliveries to the dairies will not remain at the record level of 60 cents per kilo reached at the end of 2022. On the one hand, the farmers have delivered more milk, on the other hand, demand has fallen because of the high prices, said Peter Stahl, chairman of the Dairy Industry Association (MIV), on Tuesday in Berlin.

"That will have consequences for raw milk prices, no question about it," added Stahl, whose main job is CEO of the Allgäuer Hochland Group. "It will also go down in the course of the year 23."

What consumers pay for milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products at retail depends not only on producer prices, but also on supermarket chain pricing and other factors. However, the ups and downs in producer prices are usually also reflected in the selling prices in the supermarket.

According to the association, the average producer price for milk in the course of 2022 also reached a new record level of 53 cents per kilo.

Unlike in retail, producer prices for milk are given in kilos and not in litres. According to the MIV, one liter corresponds to 1.03 kilograms, because milk is a little heavier than water due to its fat content and other ingredients.

According to Stahl, milk consumption in Germany has fallen because of the high prices. Above all, sales of the more expensive organic milk have suffered. "We hope that the organic market will come back when the crisis situation subsides," said Managing Director Eckhard Heuser.

Milk consumption in Germany has already fallen in recent years; in 2021, according to figures from the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, it was almost 48 kilos per capita. The industry assumes that the trend will continue.