Przemyslaw Przybylski 
The debates of the International Dairy Forum titled “Is the dairy sector ready to face another crisis?” were devoted to the situation in the domestic, EU, and global milk markets, the outlook and challenges for the global dairy products trade, Brexit and its impact on the European dairy sector, as well as the role of women in the sector. Winners of the 13th Ranking of Dairy Cooperatives were named.
The Forum was held in Serock near Warsaw between 4 and 6 September 2019. Credit Agricole was once again the Strategic Partner of the event and a Partner of the Ranking’s special category: Expansion Leader.
On the first day of the Forum, Jakub Olipra, CABP economist specializing in the agricultural sector, gave a lecture titled “Is this the end of increased price volatility in the milk market?” He used for his study the new analysis service AGROstat dedicated to the agri-food sector.
AGROstat is CABP’s web service that will present reports and analyses, forecasts of indicators and parameters, probable scenarios for the development of the market situation in the respective branches of the agri-food sector (e.g. poultry, eggs, beef, milk), and forecasts of macroeconomic indicators (e.g. exchange rates, interest rates, inflation, fuel prices), prepared by the Bank and CA Group experts. The users will be able to customize the displayed content according to branches they are interested in. The service is addressed to food producers and processors: from farmers, through microbusiness, medium-size and large enterprises, to local and international corporations.
Using AGROstat, Jakub Olipra discussed the current trends in the global milk market and presented CABP forecasts of farmgate milk prices in subsequent quarters. At the same time, he presented in his address the basic functionalities of AGROstat which has met with considerable interest of dairy sector representatives.
At the official gala which took place on the second day of the Forum, Piotr Kwiatkowski, the President of the Management Board of CABP, handed the statuette of 2018 Expansion Leader to the winner – the Dairy Cooperative from Koło. The statuette is awarded every year for special achievements in introducing new products to the Polish and foreign market and in finding new outlets. Laureates were also named in the main category – Dairy Leader for the largest, large and purchase dairy cooperatives and in other special categories, such as Socially Responsible Business, Highest Profitability of Sales, and the Manager of the Year.
The last day of the Forum – Ladies’ Day was reserved exclusively for women. Women panelists from Poland and abroad were discussing the role of women in the global dairy sector and the challenges faced by dairy sector’s women leaders. Among them – Agata Jakóbczyk-Zielińska, the Director of the Corporate Clients Department – talked about the presence and the potential of women in the Polish dairy business and the paths of supporting women’s activity and entrepreneurship in this branch.
The International Milk Forum was held for the seventeenth time. The formula of the event enables meetings and exchange of experience with the representatives of Polish and EU authorities, local and foreign industry associations, managers of the largest dairy plants in Poland and in the world, and dairy branch experts and specialists. It is also an opportunity to establish new business contacts. This year’s Forum hosted i.a. the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, President and Secretary General of the European Dairy Association (EDA), Secretary General of Eucolait, the European Association of Dairy Trade.
