ZDFzoom, 2013, 30 minutes
Lush Alpine meadows, happy cows: The advertising on milk, yoghurt, and curd cheese packaging has a favorite theme: the agricultural idyll and, by association, high quality. But instead of grass, cows eat concentrated feed, and instead of coming from an Alpine farm, the ingredients for many a product are sourced from abroad. They are only mixed domestically. While this “false labelling” is to the detriment of quality, it lowers the prices.
Retailers undersell each other in a pricing war for the customer’s favor, for we Germans would rather not pay much for our dairy products. That’s why supermarkets frequently offer milk and yoghurt at dumping prices.
What effect does this price war have on our milk? How can dairy companies and retailers offer their products so cheaply? And who’s paying the true price?