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By Amelia Buragas
http://www.cheesemarketnews.com/articlearch/topstories.html
MADISON, Wis. — A recent announcement by Dean Foods that it
would begin sourcing milk specifically produced without the
use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) on the East
Coast has dairy producers and processors taking notice.
Some in the dairy industry now are wondering if the move to
go rBST-free — which has been derided by some as a decision
based on emotion not science and tolerated by others as
catering to a consumer niche — might be the next big trend
in dairy.
Marguerite Kopel, spokesperson, Dean Foods, Dallas, says
Dean made the decision in response to consumer demand in
specific markets. Kopel says Dean Foods simply is making
rBST-free milk available in some locations, such as its
Franklin, Vt., plant, which also will continue to supply
conventional milk.
“We are not doing something wholesale,” Kopel says, noting
that farmers who currently use artificial hormones have not
been asked to stop. Rather, the milk is being supplied by
farms that have already chosen not to use rBST in
production.
Chris Galen, vice president of communications, National Milk
Producers Federation (NMPF), says recent interest in rBST-free
milk is being driven in part by unmet consumer demand for
organic dairy products. He says processors see rBST-free
milk as a short-cut to organic production where a three-year
transition process has caused a bottleneck in available
supplies.
However, Galen notes that it has yet to be seen whether
consumer demand for organic will translate into sales of
rBST-free milk.
“It’s a little unclear how much of this is driven by
consumer demand vs. what processors and retailers think is
happening in the marketplace,” says Galen. “As there is
conversion, we’ll have to see if the economics of the
marketplace will support it.”
Doug DiMento, director of communications, Agri-Mark Inc.,
Lawrence, Mass., a cooperative wholesaler of milk, says its
clients have asked the company to study the cost of
supplying rBST-free milk. DiMento says Agri-Mark has
deployed field representatives to survey how many farmers
currently are using artificial growth hormones in their milk
production and where they are located.
“We’ve always been a co-op that has given our farmers free
choice, but we’ll have to see how the market plays out,”
DiMento says.
And while recent developments have companies like Agri-Mark
exploring the rBST-free possibilities, they are giving other
companies a sense of vindication.
Officials at Oakhurst Dairy, Portland, Maine, say their
company went rBST-free a decade ago to meet consumer demand.
“It was the right thing to do then, and it continues to be
even more important to our customers today,” says Stan
Bennett, president, Oakhurst. “Even though the FDA states
that there is no significant difference in the milk from
cows treated with artificial growth hormone, our consumers
are concerned and we listen.”
Mark Wustenberg, vice president of corporate communications
and public affairs, Tillamook County Creamery Association,
Tillamook, Ore., says the consumer response has been
overwhelmingly positive since Tillamook pledged to go
hormone-free in February 2005.
“We are still confident that we made the right decision,”
Wustenberg says.
He adds that the use of artificial growth hormones “is
probably more of an issue in the consumer’s mind today,”
than when Tillamook made its decision to go rBST-free.
Monsanto, which manufactures and markets rBST, says that
one-third of dairy farms in the United States use its
product to increase milk production. Andrew Burchett,
spokesperson, Monsanto, says the decision to use artificial
hormones or not is a matter of freedom of choice.
Burchett says that if farmers are asked not to use rBST or
other methods to increase their production, then they should
be compensated for that restriction.
Last month, Monsanto began providing its customers with a
producer decision guide that outlines questions for dairy
producers to ask if they are approached with a request to
supply rBST-free milk. The brochure emphasizes the right of
farmers to choose how to produce milk.
“Farmers should have the freedom to choose how to best
manage their operations,” Burchett says |
