Column¦ IDM
April 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com · 29
COVID-19
EU dairy & crisis management: what went right,
what went wrong so far?
Author: Alexander Anton, EDA Secretary General
We’re not yet at COVID-19
peak in Europe, but our
crisis protocols and procedures
are in place and
operational, so let’s dare
a first and still foggy view – from a purely dairy
crisis management perspective! – on what went
right and what went wrong so far:
Milk & dairy have been categorized
as “essential” goods with privileged rules
(transport, workforce) at a rather early stage
by the competent authorities, both at EU and
at national level. Our authorities only needed
a light nudge to get there. In non-safety related
fields, authorities show the necessary
flexibility (packaging use and labelling).
It did not come as a surprise that milk &
dairy products have been acclaimed by citizens
across Europe as vital for their families: we had a
hard time keeping milk & dairy shelves stocked,
when people rushed into supermarkets to buy
the essentials for their families. We will make
sure that these messages will be loudly echoed
in the future whenever new food legislation at
Union or at national level will be drafted.
At international level, IDFA President Michael
Dykes together with EDA President
Michel Nalet initiated an international dairy
COVID-19cooperation with an intensive exchange
in ‘real time’ on best practices and
problem tackling between the ‘situation
rooms’ of the European and the U.S. dairy sectors.
Post-COVID-19, we will for sure build on
this experience and jointly take stock on the
dairy lessons to be learnt.
Our strong and dairy-inherent food safety
culture within our ‘lactosphère’, including robust
contingency plans, has proven shock resistance
and our workforce at all levels has lived up
to our common societal responsibility: even in
the European COVID-19 ‘hotspots’ (like Northern
Italy), milk collection, processing and distribution
continued without significant disruption
(other ‘essential’ sectors have experienced signs
of strike movements across the Union).
European dairy is mobilizing all its forces
and energy to continue to be a reliable and
stable supplier of essential and vital milk &
dairy products, and to keep shelves and
fridges stocked across the Union and beyond.
Now, what went wrong
so far…
While processors and retailers underlined
the importance of free movement of food
across the Union especially in times of extraordinary
pressure on the supply lines, far
too many politicians did not resist to heat
up calls for ‘food-chauvinism’. ‘Celebrating’
the prolongation of national origin labelling
schemes during such a vital crisis is
simply inadequate and irresponsible.
On top of that: retailers misuse the market
impacts of the crisis situation (losses of
market outlets like Horeca and export that
are not compensated by any increase of sales
to consumers) to push for lower prices and
longer payment delays. We all know about
the tight cash flow and liquidity situation of
dairy businesses – and we knew before the
bankruptcy of Dean Foods and Borden Dairy.
Therefore, retailer behaviour in this crisis period
has the potential to trigger disastrous
economic consequences.
While dairy is facing these heavy economic
headwinds, European and national
authorities are very strong in publicly applauding
the dairy sector for its commitment
and performance, but they turn rather silent
when it comes to concrete actions, like activating
market support schemes or including
specific support measures for dairy in the
national ‘stimulus’ programmes.
That is another message we will voice in
the future at both, Union and national levels.
Today’s most important message can be
summarized in one of our tweets: