PHD reports improved domestic milk supply amid shortfall

ine Hill Dairy, the island’s sole milk processor, has reported an improvement in milk supply from Barbadian farmers, leading to increased availability of some milk products on supermarket shelves, despite the dairy industry’s ongoing supply crisis.

Shafia London, country manager of dairy parent Banks Holding Limited, said in a statement on Tuesday: “Barbados Dairy Industries continue to show its resilience and dedication in providing a steady stream of quality products to the local and international markets despite challenges being experienced.”

London explained that the dairy business has two main components: domestic white milk supply and externally procured ingredients for other milk products.

“On the local side, we have successfully initiated several operational optimisations in the plant such as reduction of raw milk losses, and we have seen a steadying of raw milk availability from local dairy farmers in line with last year,” she said.

These improvements have resulted in better availability of whole and two per cent milk on supermarket shelves. London added, “We are pleased that the partnership efforts with the farmers and the government continue to take legs.” She did not provide specific statistics on current milk production levels.

Despite these positive developments, the dairy has faced shortages of its popular products such as Sungold evaporated milk and Pine Hill vanilla milk in recent weeks. The company has been experiencing disruptions in its supply of powdered milk and has been forced to seek alternatives.

To address the evaporated milk shortage, Jamaican-branded milk is being imported as a short-term solution.

London said: “We are also focused on working with our overseas suppliers to improve on the security of key ingredients for other products in our suite such as evaporated milk and vanilla milk. We continue to close this gap in the interim by providing low-fat options and distributing alternate brands from our regional dairy partner.”

She further revealed that the company has completed product reformulation owing to the shortage of external ingredients whilst maintaining high quality standards.

“We expect to have our full cream evaporated milk on the shelf by the end of October,” London added.

The dairy industry has been grappling with two main issues since April: demand for milk exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels and reduced milk production by dairy farmers, linked to extreme heat and a dairy cattle shortage. This situation led to Pine Hill Dairy importing processed milk to handle the shortfalls, after obtaining a special licence supported by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Annette Beckett, president of the Barbados Beef and Dairy Association, had said earlier this year that farmers were struggling to meet their quotas due to the intense heat and other factors. She had supported the move to import milk to avert shortages. (SZB)