The dairy sector in the Azores Islands: possibilities and main constraints towards increased added value
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TECHNICAL NOTE
The dairy sector in the Azores Islands: possibilities and main constraints towards increased added value André M. de Almeida 1 & Paula Alvarenga 1 & David Fangueiro 1 Received: 21 July 2020 / Accepted: 12 October 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The Azores archipelago is the most suitable region for dairy production in Portugal, representing 30% of the overall Portuguese dairy production. It has a production system characterized by an average milk yield of 6216 kg/cow/year, and the predominance of pasture-based feeding and cows that have longer productive lives and lower incidence of metabolic/production diseases, such as acidosis or mastitis. The biggest problem with the Azores Islands dairy sector is the cost of transport, as the main markets are located in continental Portugal, over 1500 km away, and local dairy products have to compete with dairy products produced in mainland Portugal and in the rest of the European Union. Herein, the evolution of the dairy sector in the Azores Islands from 2007 to 2017 is presented. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis was performed to find potential solutions to increase the value of the Azorean dairy sector. The most relevant solution considered was the valorization of the dairy production through three major aspects: higher milk quality, namely, better organoleptic properties; lower carbon footprint (not considering transport costs); and higher levels of animal welfare. Three examples are shown of such valorization: protected denomination of origin (PDO) cheeses, the “happy cows” program, and the production of an organic milk, from the Terceira Island. Some of these programs are relatively recent, so, it will be interesting to see how their sales and acceptance by consumers evolve, particularly under the current economic framework. Keywords Cow milk . Cheese . Holstein . Dairy sector valorization . Protected denomination of origin (PDO)
Introduction The Azores Islands (or Autonomous Region of the Azores) is a Portuguese autonomous region, with its own politicaladministrative status and government bodies (Polido et al. 2016). The archipelago is composed by nine volcanic islands located in the center of the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1500 km from Lisbon and 3900 km from New York City (Ng et al. 2019). Its nine islands are spread over 600 km and are divided into three groups in accordance with their geographical location: Eastern Group of São Miguel and Santa Maria; Central Group of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial; and Western Group of Flores and Corvo (Fig. 1). It is an autonomous region of the Portuguese
* David Fangueiro [email protected] 1
LEAF – Centro de Investigação em Agronomia, Alimentos, Ambiente e Paisagem, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Republic, with a resident population of 242,846 inhabitants, according to the 2018 census data, representing 2.4% of the Portuguese population (INE 2020). The Azores Islands has a mild temperate climate w
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