Dairy companies lower prices and increase sales

The Greek dairy industry is recovering after a sharp increase in the wholesale price of milk hit sales.

The lower retail price of milk allowed the dairy industry to regain market share from private label producers. And the lower wholesale prices meant lower production costs and therefore higher profit margins.

In 2022, producer prices for cow's milk started at a relatively moderate EUR 0.44 per liter. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February had an impact, among other things, on feed prices, which rose sharply. Producer prices for milk reached over EUR 0.60 per liter.

In 2023, the situation for animal feed improved and prices slowly fell. At the beginning of the year, producer prices were at €0.58/litre, but then slowly fell below €0.50.

The first five months of the year saw price stability; producer prices have not yet reached the level of early 2022 and are between 0.51 and 0.52 euros per litre.

Retail milk prices rose 11.9% in 2022 and sales volume fell 2.3%. More moderate price increases led to a 3.4% increase in sales volume in 2023. In the first half of 2024, sales volume increased 6.6% while prices fell 3.2%.