Speaking at the launch of the Irish Farmers Journal 2016 Agribusiness Report in conjunction with KPMG, KPMG’s global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot said UHT dairy products are no longer a value-added product and just a commodity now.

Proudfoot said UHT was value-added three years ago, but today it’s just another commodity. Interestingly, he also said that the best way to disrupt the global dairy market was to sell more liquid milk products to consumers in the big export markets.

“Fundamentally, in the markets we are now selling our products to – whether they’re in Africa, South America or Asia – the consumers do not have the fresh water to rehydrate the products they have been buying from us traditionally and make them back into beverage format.”

He added that consumers in these markets want a liquid and will pay a premium for it.

On the beef side, ABP chief executive Paul Finnerty said its reach into the US market was ongoing and the group viewed it as a five-year project.

However, Finnerty said the Chinese market was even more important for the beef industry, as just a small amount of demand growth there would “really shift the dial” in terms of the global requirement for beef.

He said even an increase in consumption of 1kg to 2kg per capita in China would more than equal the entire export capacity of Brazil – the world’s largest beef producer.

Finnerty added that progress in getting access to the Chinese market has been slower than anticipated.