Dairy industry

Japanese: 乳業 - にゅうぎょう

An industry that produces commercial milk (drinking milk, dairy beverages) and dairy products (condensed milk, milk powder, yogurt, lactic acid bacteria drinks, butter, cheese, ice cream) from raw milk produced by dairy farmers.

[Shinichi Tonomura]

history

The commercial sale of milk in Japan began at the end of the Edo period, when the port was opened to foreigners in Yokohama and foreign embassies in Tokyo. It then gradually spread throughout the country in response to growing demand in urban areas, particularly from sick people and infants, and the number of private dairy businesses increased. Processing of dairy products such as butter and cheese also began under government guidance in the early Meiji period with the aim of providing employment for the samurai class, but this did not produce results, and it was not until 1900 (Meiji 33) that milk products were able to compete with imported products in terms of quality. In 1917 (Taisho 6) during World War I, Far Eastern Condensed Milk (which became Meiji Dairies in 1940 and Meiji in 2011) and Nippon Condensed Milk Co., Ltd. (now Morinaga Milk Industry) were established one after another, and as a result of this, Hokkaido dairy farmers came together in 1925 to establish the Hokkaido Dairy Sales Association (the precursor to Snow Brand Megmilk), and three major dairy companies were established. After World War II, as demand for milk and dairy products expanded, competition between large companies intensified with Meiji and Morinaga expanding into Hokkaido and Snow Brand expanding into the mainland. These three companies then formed affiliations with small and medium-sized dairy companies and reorganized the national market.

[Shinichi Tonomura and Masakazu Nagae]

current situation

During the period of rapid economic growth, the "Temporary Measures Law for Subsidies to Producers of Milk for Processing" was enacted in 1965 (Showa 40) with the aim of improving raw milk distribution and supporting prices. Dairy manufacturers were obligated to purchase raw milk at the government-determined price, but at the same time were protected by import restrictions on dairy products. Meanwhile, from the second half of the 1960s, unadjusted milk, a product of the direct sales movement by consumer cooperatives, gained widespread consumer support, and this led to a certain share of the market for milk produced in agricultural plants by consumer cooperatives and agricultural cooperatives, and this was the catalyst for a shift in the focus of drinking milk from processed milk to unadjusted milk.

In the 1980s, dairy products were included in the list of agricultural product liberalization demands, and as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), dairy product imports were shifted from the previous quantitative restrictions to full tariffs in 1995, and the domestic benchmark trading price system was abolished. In 2010, Japan produced 7.63 million tons of raw milk, of which 4.18 million tons was for drinking and 3.45 million tons was for dairy products. Among dairy products, butter production was 70,000 tons, cheese 130,000 tons, and skim milk powder 150,000 tons. In terms of import volume, in addition to cheese, which has a long shelf life, there has been a notable increase in processed raw materials such as skim milk powder, whey powder, and lactose.

Although the three major companies, Meiji, Morinaga Milk Industry, and Snow Brand Megmilk, have been losing market share since the 1970s, they still maintained a highly oligopolistic industry structure, with 53.4% of commercial milk, 21.7% condensed milk, 55.8% powdered milk, 55.8% butter, and 47.1% cheese as of 1997. In addition to improving the quality of drinking milk, the major dairy companies are finding a way forward by utilizing their research and development capabilities to develop processed dairy products that meet the health consciousness of consumers, and by developing products with high health benefits that utilize the results of research into lactic acid bacteria, such as yogurt, in order to create high added value and differentiate themselves.

[Masakazu Nagae]

[References] | Milk | Dairy products | Dairy farming

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

酪農家が生産する生乳から市乳（飲用牛乳、乳飲料）や乳製品（練乳、粉乳、ヨーグルト・乳酸菌飲料、バター、チーズ、アイスクリーム）を製造する産業。

［殿村晋一］

歴史

日本での牛乳市販は、幕末開港期に、横浜外国人居留地や東京の外国公館向けに販売されたことに始まる。その後、病弱者や乳児を中心とする都市部の需要増に応じてしだいに全国に普及し、個人乳業経営が増加する。バター、チーズなど乳製品の加工も、明治初期に士族授産を目的として政府の指導のもとで始まるが、成果はあがらず、品質面で輸入品に対抗できるようになるのは1900年（明治33）以後のことであった。第一次世界大戦期の1917年（大正6）に極東煉乳(きょくとうれんにゅう)（1940年に明治乳業、2011年に明治となる）、日本煉乳株式会社（現、森永乳業）が相次いで設立され、この影響で、1925年には北海道の酪農家が結集して北海道製酪販売組合（雪印(ゆきじるし)メグミルクの前身）を設立し、乳業大手3社が出そろうことになる。第二次世界大戦後、牛乳・乳製品需要が広まるなかで、明治と森永の北海道進出、雪印の内地進出による大企業間の競争が激化し、これら3社による中小乳業の系列化、全国市場の再編成が進んだ。

［殿村晋一・永江雅和］

現状

高度経済成長期には、生乳流通の整備と価格支持を目的として1965年（昭和40）に制定された「加工原料乳生産者補給金等暫定措置法」により、乳業メーカーは政府決定の生乳価格での買入れを義務づけられる反面、乳製品の輸入規制によって保護されてきた。一方、1960年代後半からは、生活共同組合の産直運動による成分無調整乳が消費者の支持を広げたことから、生協・農協系の農業プラント系牛乳が一定のシェアを確保するとともに、飲料乳の中心が加工乳から成分無調整乳に転換するきっかけとなった。

　1980年代に入ると、農産物自由化要求の対象品目に乳製品もあがることとなり、GATT(ガット)のウルグアイ・ラウンド交渉の結果、乳製品輸入は1995（平成7）年より従来の数量制限から全量関税化に移行し、日本国内の基準取引価格制度も廃止された。2010年（平成22）の日本の原乳生産量は763万トン、うち飲用向けが418万トン、乳製品向けが345万トン。乳製品のうち、バターの生産量は7万トン、チーズは13万トン、脱脂粉乳(だっしふんにゅう)は15万トンである。輸入量では保存性の高いチーズ類に加え、脱脂粉乳、ホエイパウダー、乳糖などの加工用原料の伸びが顕著である。

　明治、森永乳業、雪印メグミルクの大手3社は、1970年代以降シェアを減少させてきたとはいえ、1997年時点でも、市乳の53.4％、練乳21.7％、粉乳55.8％、バター55.8％、チーズ47.1％と依然として寡占度の高い業界構造を維持している。飲料乳の品質向上はもちろんのことであるが、大手乳業各社はその研究開発能力を活かし、健康志向に対応した加工乳製品の開発や、ヨーグルトをはじめとする乳酸菌研究の成果を活かした、保健効果の高い製品の開発により、高付加価値化と差別化をはかる方向に、活路を見出している状況である。

［永江雅和］

[参照項目] | 牛乳 | 乳製品 | 酪農

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