Dairy farmers from Cañete adrift after not picking up the dairy two weeks ago

A total of 5,000 dairy farmers from the valley of Canete (Lima) have been affected by the non-collection of dairy products by the company Nestle since two weeks.

“Nestlé has simply stopped collecting the milk because, according to them, it is not convenient for them to come from so far away. They have said that milk is not good or is mistreated; They are excuses that they make,” Teodoro Rodríguez, vice president of the Regional Milk Council of Lima Province, told this media.

“What do we do with the milk if Nestlé is not going to collect it? The rancher has to start taking it out and what he can sell he does it to the public, but there are ranchers who take out more than 200 or 300 liters a day and it is a bit difficult for them to dispatch that amount, so the only thing they have left is throw it into the river,” he said.

The leader stressed that many of the producers have already had problems due to the high cost of inputs, imported corn and powdered milk. The latter would be being used in the elaboration of the product that is commercialized in the different markets.

“The main detail is that the powdered milk that is being imported is much cheaper and affects the domestic market for fresh milk. What the industry does is buy this input in large tons and they make a recombined milk with other proteins and distribute it to the markets”, he explained.

In the words of Rodríguez, the collection company is paying between S/ 0.98 to S/ 1.10 per liter of milk. “For powdered milk, as they never give public information, it must be between S/ 0.30 and S/ 0.40. It’s a tremendous difference,” he added.

In addition, Rodríguez explained that the weekly monetary losses of the 5,000 affected ranchers range between S/ 2,000 and S/ 2,500. If the total is considered, the amount would rise to a maximum of S/ 12 million 500,000 in the month.