A round-up of the week’s key events in the dairy sector in Ukraine and around the world 👇
📉 Dairy foreign trade in the first eight months of 2026: exports down over 20%, imports up nearly a quarter
Ukraine has effectively shifted from a net exporter of dairy products to a net importer, as its trade balance turned negative.
🤝 UDEU board holds a strategy session: logistics, staffing and food security
Participants discussed the dairy sector’s key challenges and the union’s role in consolidating the industry’s position and its dialogue with the state.
🥛 From milk to sausage rolls: how vending machines could help tackle UK «food deserts»
Selling direct to the public helps squeezed farmers control prices and improves access to food in rural areas.
🍨 Dietitians name the worst dairy food for heart health
Registered dietitians say ice cream is one of the worst dairy foods for heart health because it’s high in sugar, saturated fat and calories — but it’s not off the table.
🧈 UDEU Analytics: butter loses ground as Ukraine’s dairy exports are reshaped in a year
Butter, which only last year made up the bulk of the industry’s export earnings, has lost more than half of its weight in Ukraine’s dairy exports over twelve months.
🇮🇪 Grass-fed dairy: Ireland eyes Asia’s premium nutrition boom
Ireland has its sights on Asia’s growing premium nutrition market, positioning its grass-fed dairy credentials to meet rising demand for quality dairy products.
🧬 Novonesis will build an enzyme plant in India for €600m
The company formed from the merger of Novozymes and Chr. Hansen is expanding enzyme output — ingredients that are also critical to dairy, from cheesemaking to yogurts.
🇪🇺 EDA Dairy Flash digest: Ukraine’s EU integration, the Bratislava convention and the FAO leadership race
The European Dairy Association’s latest Dairy Flash covers Ukraine’s dairy-sector EU integration, its annual convention in Bratislava with a dedicated Ukraine session, and other news from Europe’s «lactosphère».
🌐 Global dairy giants bet $267bn on consolidation and specialization as the industry reshapes
The top 20 dairy companies reached that combined revenue as consolidation accelerates and firms trade diversification for focused category leadership.
🍃 ESG: Barry Callebaut and Arla Foods launch ambitious decarbonisation plan
The world’s biggest chocolate maker partners with a dairy giant to target Scope 3 emissions — starting with skimmed milk powder.
🧀 Long-term low: the lowest proportion of expenditure on imported cheeses was recorded in August 2026
Cheese has made up over 80% of the value of Ukraine’s dairy imports for years. In August 2026 its share fell below 77% for the first time in a long while — but not because less cheese is arriving.
🔬 EU Commission launches agri-food innovation strategy: AgRI 2040 and Food 2040
The EU’s new strategic approach to research and innovation also covers livestock systems and food safety and nutrition — areas directly relevant to dairy.
🧫 New Culture targets $50 billion cheese market with new patent
Known for its recombinant casein for animal-free cheese, New Culture’s mozzarella patent grows its portfolio, aiming to reach commercial scale.
🤝 «Free or mirrored»: the stance Ukraine’s dairy sector brought to Poland
More than 20 Ukrainian dairy processors export to the EU — despite the full-scale war.
🦠 FMD out of control: Greece loses a fifth of an island’s livestock
Nearly 82,000 animals culled, the army deployed and farmers protesting as Lesvos and Athens clash over the outbreak.
💉 GLP-1 nutrition trend fuels premium whey demand
The GLP-1 nutrition trend is fuelling demand for premium whey protein
