LOSING THE RACE FOR MILK PRODUCTION

I remember that about forty years ago, we still had a dairy industry and at that time, Magnolia Fresh Milk was one of my products when I worked for San Miguel Corporation as a brand coordinator. My other products were Magnolia Ice Cream and Magnolia Cheese. Today, it appears that the Philippines is importing most of its milk requirements, amounting to almost a hundred million dollars per year. The bulk of our milk imports come from New Zealand, followed by Australia, Germany and France. Believe it or not, we are even importing from Bangladesh. It goes without saying that we are also importing most of our cheese requirements, because cheese comes from milk, and we do not have enough milk production. Either that, or we could be producing cheese made from milk powders and other imported ingredients. Today, consumer preferences are changing, and there is now lesser demand for products derived from animals, including cow milk of course. Even in my own family, we are now drinking “milk” made from almonds or soybeans. Could we possibly compete in these new industries? IKE SENERES/09088877282/01-06-2024