In November, dairy manufacturers began raising the retail prices of milk and dairy products, as raw milk prices were raised to support dairy farmers suffering from soaring fuel and feed costs.
However, dairy farmers are complaining that the price hikes are still not enough, while dairy manufacturers are worried consumers will be reluctant to buy more expensive products.
The Tokai Dairy Industry Co-operative Federation, an association of dairy farmers in Aichi, Gifu, Mie and Nagano prefectures, raised the transaction price of raw fluid-grade milk by ¥10 per kilogram to about ¥130 in November. The price increase was the first in three years, since 2019, and the first time in nine years that the price was raised in the middle of a fiscal year.