On August 7, the world’s largest dairy-export firm Fonterra, a co-operative owned by New Zealand farmers, declared that it would be paying its members $2.55 per kilogram of milk solids in the current season until May 2016. This is less than half the price it was paying two years ago. This is symbolic of the price dip in the milk industry worldwide.

Like many other countries, Japan is also going through a deficit in dairy products, particularly butter. The Japan Dairy Association has warned that butter demand will exceed supply by over 7,000 tons this year, prompting the government to resort to emergency imports to fill the gap.

There are three main reasons behind the dip in the dairy industry: the economic slowdown in China, the closure of the EU’s dairy-production quotas earlier this year, and Russia’s ban on EU products to counter European sanctions.

Although the number of dairy farmers in Europe continues to drop, from 200,000 in the 1950s to less than 10,000 today, a rising number is now bypassing retailers and offering their milk locally.