Dairies United
Following requests for meetings, members of the Georgian Milk Mark Federation (GMMF) met with the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA), David Songulashvili, to discuss ongoing challenges in the dairy sector. During the meeting, the GMMF representing fifty dairies who exclusively use raw milk sourced from small scale livestock producers, highlighted the need for the better control of unregistered dairies to reduce unfair competition. The second main issue discussed were the unfair trading practices encountered by dairies in their relationships with supermarkets which include; paying entry fees, delayed payments and other imposed fees.
The GMMF group unites community based dairy factories who source raw milk from small-scale Georgian farmers and who use, or aspire to use, the Georgian Milk Mark (GMM). The dairies provide regular year-round income to hundreds of households allowing them to develop and also gives them access to quality employment. The dairies also act as an important social hub often helping their suppliers through hard times and supporting local community initiatives. The latest development by several lead dairies is a move into rural tourism with tours showing production and offering product tasting, tours which are proving a popular option with local tour operators.
The GMM is an audited quality assurance mark supporting community based production from minimal input livestock systems. Member dairies must comply with strict criteria, including production using 100% natural raw milk sourced from cows that have access to grazing for at least six months of the year and whose winter feed is predominantly grass-based.
The GMMF is facilitated by the Alliances Caucasus 2 (ALCP2) programme, co-funded by the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC), the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and Sweden.
See also the following link available on the MEPA website: