Ukrainian cheesemakers are still struggling to overcome the crisis; their products are expensive, leading to weak sales, while the export of European cheese is on the rise, which is clearly detrimental to domestic producers, reported the industry information and analytical agency "Infagro".
"The only way to resolve this crisis is by lowering cheese prices. Alternatively, if sales are extremely poor, various promotional tools should be employed. If the pricing issue is not addressed, imports will continue to push Ukrainian producers out of their own market," analysts warned.
They acknowledged that due to high prices in the domestic market, Ukrainian-produced cheese is not selling well, prompting producers to focus on increasing exports. In January 2025, they raised external cheese sales by 25% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, imports were also significantly higher in the same comparison. The volume of hard/semi-hard cheeses purchased in January was a quarter more than in January 2024.
"This is quite substantial, considering the relatively small capacity of the Ukrainian cheese market," experts noted.
The situation in the cheese products market is also rather bleak. Attempts by leading players to raise export prices resulted in a significant drop in sales volumes. Consequently, they had to lower prices again to avoid completely losing their sales markets, the industry agency summarized.