Valorisation of whey 173
upstream in the value chain. The number of milk farms fell drastically from
148,000 in 1959 to 16,000 in 2009, further declining to 8,800 in 2015 (Almås
& Brobakk, 2012; Statistics Norway, 2016).
TINE is obliged to collect all milk from farmers in Norway, irrespective of
the distance of the farm to the nearest dairy. This requirement is connected
to a general national policy of decentralised development in a vast, sparsely
populated country.
In Norway the agricultural sector is highly protected and TINE does not
have the ‘political mandate’ to source from other countries (which for
instance led to what is known as the ‘butter crisis’ in 2011 (Aftenposten,
2011)). In addition to high transportation costs, Norway faces tariffs when
exporting food to the EU. Trade between Norway and the EU is regulated
through the 1992 Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) and tariffs and quotas for agricultural products are negotiated under this
Agreement, most recently in April 2017 (European Commission, 2017). The
agricultural trade balance favours the EU (ibid.) and EU exports to Norway
are increasing, with the product category ‘fresh milk and cream, buttermilk
and yoghurt’ rising from C14 to 19 million between 2013 and 2017. Norwegian exports to the EU of products in the same category remained stable at
C3 million from 2013 to 2017 (European Commission, 2018). According to
Vik and Kvam (2017), EU import tariffs mean that the EU is not an
important market for Norwegian whey protein concentrate.
9.3.1 TINE in Norway
TINE is by far the largest dairy cooperative operating in Norway. It traces its
history back to 1856 when Rausjødalen Meieri – the first dairy cooperative
in Norway and Northern Europe – was founded with 40 members. During
the second half of the 19th century, the organisation expanded as still more
dairies were established, and the Norwegian Dairy Association was founded
in 1881. The year 1900 saw the highest number of dairies in operation with
780 sites in total. A few cheese brands were interesting to the international
market, and in the 1920s, an organisation was established to handle the export
of dairy products from Norway. The name TINE was introduced in 1992
and the company structure has changed a few times since (TINE, 2018a).
Today, the TINE cooperative has 10,500 members (owners) and 8,500
cooperative farms (TINE, 2018b). Farmers are guaranteed milk sales to dairies
through the cooperative and dairies are guaranteed a supply. Milk production
is the most regulated activity in the Norwegian agriculture sector. A central
agreement on the milk price ensures an equal price to all farmers, irrespective
of the use of the milk or the farm’s geographical location.
From the year 1900 up to the 1980s there was a gradual decrease in the
number of dairies from 700 to about 200. Instead of having a dairy at or near
each farm, regional dairies were established. They were located to efficiently
collect milk from the surrounding farms and supplied almost the entire
upstream in the value chain. The number of milk farms fell drastically from
148,000 in 1959 to 16,000 in 2009, further declining to 8,800 in 2015 (Almås
& Brobakk, 2012; Statistics Norway, 2016).
TINE is obliged to collect all milk from farmers in Norway, irrespective of
the distance of the farm to the nearest dairy. This requirement is connected
to a general national policy of decentralised development in a vast, sparsely
populated country.
In Norway the agricultural sector is highly protected and TINE does not
have the ‘political mandate’ to source from other countries (which for
instance led to what is known as the ‘butter crisis’ in 2011 (Aftenposten,
2011)). In addition to high transportation costs, Norway faces tariffs when
exporting food to the EU. Trade between Norway and the EU is regulated
through the 1992 Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) and tariffs and quotas for agricultural products are negotiated under this
Agreement, most recently in April 2017 (European Commission, 2017). The
agricultural trade balance favours the EU (ibid.) and EU exports to Norway
are increasing, with the product category ‘fresh milk and cream, buttermilk
and yoghurt’ rising from C14 to 19 million between 2013 and 2017. Norwegian exports to the EU of products in the same category remained stable at
C3 million from 2013 to 2017 (European Commission, 2018). According to
Vik and Kvam (2017), EU import tariffs mean that the EU is not an
important market for Norwegian whey protein concentrate.
9.3.1 TINE in Norway
TINE is by far the largest dairy cooperative operating in Norway. It traces its
history back to 1856 when Rausjødalen Meieri – the first dairy cooperative
in Norway and Northern Europe – was founded with 40 members. During
the second half of the 19th century, the organisation expanded as still more
dairies were established, and the Norwegian Dairy Association was founded
in 1881. The year 1900 saw the highest number of dairies in operation with
780 sites in total. A few cheese brands were interesting to the international
market, and in the 1920s, an organisation was established to handle the export
of dairy products from Norway. The name TINE was introduced in 1992
and the company structure has changed a few times since (TINE, 2018a).
Today, the TINE cooperative has 10,500 members (owners) and 8,500
cooperative farms (TINE, 2018b). Farmers are guaranteed milk sales to dairies
through the cooperative and dairies are guaranteed a supply. Milk production
is the most regulated activity in the Norwegian agriculture sector. A central
agreement on the milk price ensures an equal price to all farmers, irrespective
of the use of the milk or the farm’s geographical location.
From the year 1900 up to the 1980s there was a gradual decrease in the
number of dairies from 700 to about 200. Instead of having a dairy at or near
each farm, regional dairies were established. They were located to efficiently
collect milk from the surrounding farms and supplied almost the entire