Algeria: a market pushing for more dairy in diets

You can sell all the dairy product you like in Algeria, but getting a good price, getting paid for it and trying to differentiate your product from the market are challenges.

Getting payment transferred has been complicated for some Irish milk processors. The demand from Algerian buyersat the moment is for 59 days credit. Often we are led to believe that the government gets in between the buyer and the seller. While the Algerian seller might have transferred the funds they might not yet have landed in the Irish account.

Consumption

The Algerians, similar to the Irish, like to drink milk, with consumption surprisingly up around 120 litres per head per year (140 in Ireland). There is a big push on from the government to get more dairy in the diet of young people, and hence powders imported into Algeria are subsidised so food prices in the shops are kept down.

In theory Ireland could sell plenty of skim milk powder into Algeria, but the problem is it’s a cheap base product with little room for adding value. Irish companies could and have set up the best of deals but as soon as commodity product drops in price if you don’t match it you are out.

Imports

Algeria is 100% reliant on whole milk powder (WMP) imports, making it the second largest importer of WMP in the world. Fonterra from New Zealand are big players in this market, shipping ship whole milk powder into Algeria

Imports of WMP into Algeria have grown by 101% over the last five years.

As an exporting nation, Ireland has to be serious about Algeria. It has a population of 40m, heading for 50m, with over 20%under 25 years of age. Society is becoming more westernised by the day.

Irish skim milk powder exports to Algeria grew by 37% from €6.6m in 2018 to €9.1m in 2019. In 2019 Irish dairy exports to Algeria reached €54m. Almost 10,000t of cheese was sold here in 2018 valued at close to €35m.

As part of a Bord Bia-led trade mission, we saw some Kerrygold cheddar on sale in a supermarket retailing at about €11/kg. A very young mild white cheddar, it was cut into squares of about 250g and placed on a card wrapped in cling film with very little branding. Many Algerians grate this up for pizza’s instead of using mozzarella.

All the rage

Processed soft cheese (like the little triangles of cheese pictured above) are all the rage in Algeria. They are made with varying levels of dairy ingredients. The cheaper ones retail for about €2/kg, which only have a small taste of cheddar, while the better brands are made of cheddar and butter only (very little vegetable ingredients) and sell for about €6/kg.

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Cert signed for export of cattle for slaughter from Ireland to Algeria