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Now technologies are capable of creating yeast to mimic the whey and casein proteins that are produced in milk, farmers attending the Irish Farmers Journal Dairy Day heard.
At a discussion focused on what’s happening around the dairy world, John Penno co-founder of Synlait said there was an ice-cream called Perfect Day on sale in the US made from yeast.
Penno said one report produced by a reputable source in California suggested cow-based industries could collapse within 20 years if “alternatives” take off.
Ingrediants
“We have to watch how these technologies develop and we have to take that into account – the dairy industry has to move away from ingredients,” Penno said.
The biggest risk is to ingredients as “that’s where alternatives will target first”, Penno said. If alternatives could be produced cheaper and at the same quality then dairy ingredients such as casein and whey then could become redundant.
Infant formula
John Yu, project manager with Newbaze, a Chinese firm that has opened an infant formula plant in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, was challenged on whether the project would deliver a premium for farmers.
Yu said while there is a significant difference between the price per tonne of base powder and per tonne of infant formula there were significantly more costs in the chain. He pointed specifically to a rigorous testing process in order to approve product for import into China.
Yu said Newbaze had set up the plant in Ireland for access to quality dairy ingredients not “for a better price”.
Penno then cautioned the Irish dairy industry about its growth strategy. He said it should focus on value-added products not volume and commodity products.
Selling dairy
Farmers also heard from Cristián Swett, CEO of Manuka in Chile, a large corporate farm with 41,000 cows spread across 25,000ha.
Swett explained that issues such as animal welfare and the environment were not unique to Europe or New Zealand. He said the dairy industry had done a “terrible job” selling itself, as people’s perception of it is vastly different to the reality.
Penno said: “Within New Zealand if you get online and search “the vision is clear” it’s a good campaign, full of stories, well told – I suspect it’s a waste of time.
“What we’re doing is telling the same story. We’re telling it better but I think they know the story and they’re asking us to change and we’re telling them we don’t need to change, we’re already good.”
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