Spanish dairy industry warns falling sheep and goat milk output threatens cheese supply

Milk output contracts as the producer base narrows

Spain’s sheep and goat dairy sectors are recording further production declines, raising concerns about the supply of milk used by the country’s traditional cheesemakers. The National Federation of Dairy Industries, FeNIL, said in its latest dairy-sector barometer that sheep milk production fell 3% and goat milk output declined 5% over the latest 12 months.

The contraction follows a longer decline in national production. Spain produced 512,000 tonnes of sheep milk and 470,000 tonnes of goat milk in 2021. Last year, output reached only about 475,000 tonnes and 400,000 tonnes respectively, according to figures published by Interempresas from the FeNIL report. Production is falling from an increasingly narrow base as the number of livestock farmers continues to decrease. FeNIL also identified the lack of generational replacement as one of the sector’s complex underlying problems.

Cheese demand grows but shifts away from traditional varieties

The production decline is unfolding while Spain’s overall cheese market expands. Sales through organized retail reached 463,000 tonnes during the latest 12 months, up 3.6% from the same period a year earlier, according to Circana data cited by Interempresas. However, pure sheep and goat cheeses did not grow at the same rate.

Spanish consumers are buying less traditional pressed sheep and goat cheese. The report links this shift to changing consumption habits, lower disposable income and the higher price of these varieties compared with cheese made from cow’s milk. FeNIL argues that consumers are not abandoning cheese but changing the categories placed in their shopping baskets. Many of the products gaining shelf space are imported, weakening demand for domestically produced sheep and goat milk.

This divergence directly affects small and medium-sized Spanish cheesemakers. When domestic sheep and goat cheeses lose positions in retail displays, processors require less local milk. Lower demand then adds pressure to livestock farms already facing falling output and a shrinking population of producers, increasing the risk of tighter domestic supply for specialty cheese production.

Imports reach records and reshape competition

Spain imported a record 435,000 tonnes of cheese in 2025, an increase of 6.4% from the previous year. That was more than three times the country’s cheese exports of 132,000 tonnes. Total Spanish dairy-product imports exceeded 1 million tonnes for the first time, rising from 904,000 tonnes in 2024 to 1.044 million tonnes in 2025.

Interempresas reported that the increase was driven principally by cheese supplied by Germany, the Netherlands and France. For importers, the expanding market and the shift toward lower-priced categories support larger inbound flows. For Spanish processors and exporters specializing in sheep and goat cheese, the same trend means stronger competition in their domestic market and a weaker local raw-material chain.

Dutch goat milk adds price pressure

FeNIL also highlighted unequal access to competitively priced raw materials. The Netherlands has recently emerged as one of the European Union’s leading goat milk producers, altering the market balance. Dutch goat milk is generally priced, on average, 30% below goat milk produced in Spain, putting pressure on both Spanish farmers and cheesemakers.

FeNIL director general Luis Calabozo said growth in the cheese market is being absorbed mainly by imported products while traditional sheep and goat cheeses lose ground, threatening many small and medium-sized Spanish cheese companies. The federation called for cooperation among public authorities, retailers and the wider industry to promote traditional Spanish cheeses and strengthen the competitiveness of the entire supply chain.