Cibus Tec 2016: Focus on fruit juice and dairy

At the Milk Day workshop organized by Cibus Tec and Assolate (Italian Dairy Association), the emphasis was on sustainability, environment and efficiency to win over new markets. In the dairy industry, which accounts for 13% of food and drink production in Europe,  milk undergoes various heating and cooling processes that consume large amounts of energy.

“Replacing all energy from fossil fuels with renewable energy, said Piercristiano Brazzale , IDF Science  and  Programme  Coordination  Committee  and  Brazzale  SpA , “the sector could reduce energy consumption by up to 50% and water  by 30%, whilst  becoming  even  more efficient and competitive and respecting the environment at the same time.”

The thriving dairy sector has over 1,400 companies in operation, employing 25,000 workers (a further 100,000 counting satellite activities) and producing 1.1 million tons of cheese, 510,000 of which boast PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status.  With a total of 49, Italy produces more PDO cheeses than any other country in the world (source: Assolatte, 2015).

The figures for exports are also considerable: 115,080 tons of the product were exported to EU countries between January and May 2016 (France, Germany and the United Kingdom being the largest markets, importing 31,543, 22,905, 14,041 tons respectively), whilst 13,115 tons crossed the ocean to the USA.  The sector represents 11.7% of the food sector’s overall turnover of 132 billion euro. And there is still room for development, particularly with regard to environmental awareness.

According to Prof. Fabio Iraldo, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa and the IEFE at Bocconi University, 74% of consumers value ecological products; 17% are already habitual buyers and 57% occasional.  

The thrust in the industry is to be able to produce more sustainably as cheese becomes more important to consumers and producers.

Meanwhile at the Juice Day workshop organized by Fiere di Parma, David Berrymann, English fruit juice expert and small scale apple juice producer mentioned how sugar is so much a part of the diet, that we can’t live without it. This he said in the face of the potential economic fallout of the various health campaigns against excessive sugar consumption.

Mr Berryman stressed the difference between soft drinks and fruit juices, amid rising sugar consumption and health . Without  denying  the  problem  of  childhood  obesity, he reminded his audience that our ancestors were frugivores, and our metabolism is based on the diet of primates. He said that drinking fruit juices is therefore a clean and healthy way of feeding the body.