Lidl Hungary pays more for local milk | Progresiv

In order to support the Hungarian dairy market, which has encountered difficulties lately, the local subsidiary of food retail chain Lidl has decided to pay at least 10 forints (0.03 euros) per liter more for milk to dairy farmers from today, according to a company press release.

Stressing its commitment to the domestic dairy sector, Lidl Hungary noted that it purchased 56 million liters of milk from Hungarian farmers last year, six million liters more than in the preceding year, while it bought 2,600 tons of cheese last year, 400 tons more than the year before. The press statement added that its milk and dairy exports have expanded, as in the past year it has sold such Hungarian products to seven European countries, to a value of approximately 650 million forints (2.13 million euros).

Following numerous protests at the beginning of the year by dairy farmers voicing their discontent about the low purchase price of milk and cheap milk imports, the Hungarian government decided in May to lower the VAT rate on raw milk from the current 27% to 5% from next year. (www.bbj.hu)