Sales of Ukrainian-made cheese in December 2025 fell short of expectations, despite the New Year holidays traditionally being the peak sales period. Domestic products lost ground to cheap imports, primarily from EU countries, where significant cheese surpluses had accumulated ahead of the holidays, ProAgro Group reports.
European producers were actively seeking external markets and were willing to sell cheese at discounted prices. In Ukraine, where the domestic market is effectively unprotected from imports, this led to a sharp increase in the share of foreign cheeses – by the end of the year, demand for imported products more than doubled.
However, according to Tetiana Diadechko, President of the Ukrainian Cheese Producers Association, the situation should not yet be described as a full-blown crisis, although declining sales during the peak season are a worrying signal.
“Yes, sales during the New Year holidays were lower than last year. I associate this with the overall difficult situation in the country,” she said.
At the same time, Diadechko stressed that the main threat to the market is not so much legal imports as contraband.
“Smuggled cheeses are extremely cheap, and they are the ones that distort the market the most. Legal imports are not as dangerous as contraband,” she emphasized.
Additional pressure on the cheese market came from power outages. Due to electricity cuts, consumers purchased cheese in smaller portions or postponed purchases altogether, redirecting spending to alternative power sources.
“Because of the lack of electricity, people buy cheese in very small pieces… Combined with population outflows abroad, this has significantly reduced overall sales,” the head of the association noted.
The toughest competition for Ukrainian producers comes from Dutch cheeses, which can be sold at lower prices even after long aging periods thanks to advanced whey processing and diversified revenue streams.
At the same time, increased competition is pushing the sector to evolve: Ukrainian producers are expanding their product ranges and improving quality, gradually reshaping consumer perceptions of domestically produced cheese.
Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian cheese market entered 2026 without the usual pre-holiday boost. Despite higher overall consumption in December, more consumers opted for European cheeses, which proved to be more affordable.
Source: UNIAN
