Condensed milk consumption increases by 14% during coronavirus pandemic

With an annual consumption of 6 kilos per person, the Brazilian domestic market is the main asset of the dairy sector. According to Stephanie Arnesen Biekarck, Nestlé Condensed Milk Marketing Manager, Brazil is one of the world's leading consumer markets, being present in 90% of households.
Owner of a brand that has become synonymous with condensed milk, the company sells seven units per second around the planet, maintaining a factory dedicated almost exclusively to the production of sweet in Montes Claros, municipality of Minas Gerais.
"Nestlé condensed milk was very important in Brazilian culture. He defined the sweet culture in the country and, no wonder, 70% of the sweets made by Brazilians are based on condensed milk and this is very relevant", says Stephanie.
National passion, the product is also the main item on the milk export agenda of Brazil and, in March, accounted for more than 47% of the international sales of the sector. "Certainly, Brazil is one of the countries with the greatest production potential indeed, with a very large export relevance," stephanie explains. Not by chance, condensed milk was the first product to be manufactured by Nestlé in Brazil almost a hundred years ago.
"We are very competitive in condensed milk and, in my view, it is very interesting for us," says Fernando Pinheiro, Agricultural Economic Technical Analyst at the Organization of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB). He points out that brazil's advantages in the production and sale of sweets range from the abundance of raw material to the format of commercialization in the international market: in steel cans ready for sale to the final consumer.
"It's interesting because we sell milk, sugar and steel from the packaging at once. And unlike milk powder, which we sell in packages of 25 kilos to be fractionated in the country of origin, condensed milk is sold ready to be marketed", explains Pinheiro.
In 2019, 9,300 tons of condensed milk were exported – a volume considered low when compared to the record of 52,400 tons sent to the international market in 2006.
The President of the CNA National Milk Cattle Commission, Ronei Volpi, estimates that the product carries the Brazilian brand in the international market. "Brazilian condensed milk has a very strong brand, it is very recognized worldwide. There is no competition in the world in terms of product recognition," concludes Volpi. The country has already accounted for 15.5% of the world's exports of condensed milk in 2006, but has lost participation as shipments of dairy products as a whole have decreased.
"I think it's a product that has paid off a lot, stimulating exports because we're not selling one thing, we're selling three national products," pinheiro says. Among the main competitors in Brazil are countries with a strong presence in the global dairy market, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Together, they accounted for almost 30% of the world market in 2017 compared to 3.5% in Brazil, according to FAO data.