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The cost of exporting cheese to the EU is prohibitive.
Fonterra is the major exporter of specialty cheeses from NZ. This goes to Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands.
NZ Specialty Cheese Makers Association chair Catherine McNamara says while the EU has unlimited access to the NZ market, two-way trade is nigh impossible.
She says the cost of exporting chesse to the EU is prohibitive.
She says competing againsts subsidised European cheese together with the high cost of freight means that the price NZ would have to sell its produce for would be way above that of locally produced cheese.
McNamara, who is also the owner and managing director of award winning Grinning Gecko Cheese in Northland, says her big hope is that NZ consumers will support local cheesemakers as they try to deal with the challenges they now face.
OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.
Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.
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