Asian pizza promotion another sign of a strong export year

In an ironic twist, much of the cheese in pizza restaurants in New Zealand may come from milk produced in the United States rather than that country’s own farmers. New Zealand is well-known for supplying dairy products to other countries rather than having itself be served.   

It is the latest in a series of developments that bode well for U.S. dairy export prospects in the coming year.

Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, told those attending the Dairy Farmers of America annual meeting on Wednesday that he expects export demand to remain firm through the third quarter this year.

“Demand is quite strong, driven primarily by China and their food-safety concerns,” he said. “China is a huge and continuing factor in the market.”

Exports hit record levels in 2010, when the U.S. exported 12.8 percent of its milk production (on a milk-solids basis). That compares to 11 percent in 2008 and 9.3 percent in 2009.

Discarding 2009 because it was such a down year, the comparison between 2008 and 2010 is quite favorable. In 2010, there were an additional 450 million pounds of milk solids exported compared to 2008, Suber said.

Regarding Japan, Suber was careful not to sound opportunistic, given the tragedies that country has had to endure since the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent damage to nuclear facilities. “We hope for the best outlook for the Japanese people,” he said. And, it is still difficult to tell at this point what impact the disasters will have on Japanese demand for imported dairy products. If there is widespread contamination of Japan’s milk supply from radiation, it will pull more milk powder from the world supply, he said.

In addition, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff program, has announced that three major pizza restaurants — Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut — will use U.S. cheese among their franchisees in the Asia-Pacific Rim countries. To be eligible for a promotional program, participating Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut restaurants will be required to purchase U.S. cheese — not exclusively, but predominately — as part of their overall cheese buy.

“Historically, chains in this emerging part of the world have relied heavily on cheese imports from New Zealand,” says a DMI spokesman. “Our program seeks to ‘level the playing field’ and encourages the purchase and use of pizza cheese from the U.S. for pizza and other products.”

Pizza restaurants in New Zealand are among  those participating.

The Asia-Pacific Rim pizza promotion runs for three years.