Calendar of Events

在现在多变的行情下，全球的奶牛饲养者、乳品制造商、出口和进口商都面临着挑战。三聚氰胺事件所带来的负面影响使中国乳品行业从全球经济衰退之中的恢复变得更加困难。整体而言，乳品的市场需求正在恢复，不过中国乳品行业要重新回到前几年所表现出的持续性增长，仍需要很长的时间。

尽管如此，今年一季度中国的进口数据却高于之前的预测。除奶酪产品外，所有的乳制品的进口都表现出了增长。奶酪的进口为2900吨，比去年同期降低了29%，不过中国从美国进口的奶酪量与去年相同。今年一季度，中国奶粉的进口量超过6.5万吨，是去年同期水平的2倍之多。

Contraction Underway in U.S. Dairy Industry

After five years of nearly continuous expansion, U.S. dairymen are cutting production in response to low milk prices. With demand slowing, further correction to bring supply back into balance is expected in the second half of 2009.

In the News…

• Land O’Lakes is investing $35 million to expand its Tulare, California cheese and whey plant.
• Wisconsin dairy companies will invest $781 million for plant expansions in the next five years.
• Dean Foods will close two dairy plants this summer and move production to other facilities.

Mitigating Risk: Hedging Tools for Cheese

Large swings in commodity pricing present challenges for both exporters and customers. However, the U.S. dairy market possesses a unique feature to help deal with market volatility and mitigate risks: regardless of whether or not fixed-price contracts are offered by suppliers, each buyer can still “lock in” a price through the use of hedging tools, such as dairy futures and options.

The U.S. is the only country in the world with dairy futures and options. One account is established strictly for financial transactions (hedge) and a second account for the physical product purchase. Despite the separation of the activities, correlations allow the two accounts to balance each other. So a financial gain in your dairy hedge account will offset an increase in cheese prices that you may pay. 

WPC 80 for Improved Beef Quality

Flavor and tenderness are directly linked to the amount of marbling in cuts of beef. Use of an emulsion formulated with WPC 80 was recently shown to help improve the visual and eating qualities in meat of lower quality-grades.

The Unique Components of Dairy: A Review

Whey protein, representing 20% of the protein found in cow’s milk, is valued for its unique and special benefits. In today’s market, this pure and natural dairy product is recognized by both consumers and professionals as a powerhouse in terms of health and nutrition. Research studies are identifying new and innovative opportunities for the use of whey proteins in consumer products.

Arla Foods, Inc.
Arla Foods, based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is an importing, manufacturing and exporting unit of Arla Foods AmbA and one of the largest U.S. specialty cheese manufacturers in the United States.

Milk Specialties Global
Milk Specialties Global Food Solutions was formed in 2008 to expand the company into specialized dairy-based ingredients for next-generation health and sports nutrition products.