Gloria’s purple jar still hasn’t made it to the Glass of Milk

For four months, in the district of Saint John of Lurigancho, Lima, children and the beneficiary population of the Glass of Milk program are not being served, according to the National Association of Organized Women of the Glass of Milk. This apparent shortage has different origins.

“We make public opinion aware of our deep concern for the serious violations against our beneficiarieswho, as a pretext of a false and speculative shortage of milk, intend to sell their milk mixtures, harming the good nutrition of our children,” the association said in a statement.

The organization demands that the Gloria company supply the program with the purple jar, since it is the only product they have made from 100% fresh milk purchased from national farmers. The company has responded that there is no stock due to the attack suffered by its plant in MajesArequipa, during the first days of December 2022.

On the other hand, Silvia Pareja, a representative of this organization, explains to La República that another of the company’s arguments is that they still have their blue jar in stock and that they have a deadline until April to continue providing this product instead of the purple jar. As a consequence of this, the beneficiaries of this program, who are mostly growing children, must continue to consume milk with low nutritional value.

Why is there a purple jar?

The new milk regulation, in force since October, indicates that the evaporated milk must be fresh milk passed through a partial process of evaporation, and no longer a combination of this input and milk powder, which is the blue jar formula. To conform to the norm, the company launched its purple jar.

ace up the sleeve

With the excuse of strengthening the Glass of Milk program, in August 2022, the Congress of the Republic promulgated Law 31554, which allows the distribution of milk “in any of its forms or other enriched mixtures of cereals with dairy products”, which paves the way for the blue jar, which today bears the name of “reconstituted milk enriched with vitamins A and D”. But an opinion approved on Wednesday, April 12, in the Agrarian Commission, could reverse this rule.

For now, the only thing that prevents Glory impose this product in the Glass of Milk is that, according to the leader, in most districts nationwide, the contracts with the distributors indicate that the product to be sold is evaporated milk (purple jar), contracts valid until 2024 and 2025. “We ask that the deliveries be regularized, the districts do not have to be harmed just because the company intends to breach the supreme decree (004),” says Pareja.

At the close of this report, the Gloria company did not respond to the queries from this medium.

Domestic fresh milk supply continues to fall

In the last five years, the highest collection point —from the industry— was seen in the year 2020by exceeding 1 million 066,978 tons, according to the Association of Dairy Farmers of Peru (Agalep).

In 2021, a total of 1,040,545 was collected (2.48% less than the previous year). The year 2022 closed with a total of 883,000 tons, an approximate reduction of 158,000 tons (-15.18%).

It should be noted that the monthly collection in 2022 It has not been able to exceed the months of 2020 and 2021.

The region in which the greatest quantity of fresh milk is produced is in cajamarca, from which 17.3% is obtained. In second place is Lima (16.3%) and in third place, Arequipa (15.9%).