Competitiveness in the European dairy industries

International competitiveness has gained high importance for national food sectors in European countries, particularly initiated by the completion of the European Common Market, the rapid expansion of international business activities of private companies, and the accelerated concentration of food industries. Due to increasing interest in the competitive situation of these industries, the paper investigates the international competitiveness of European dairy sectors. After a description of important structural features in the milk production, milk processing and food retailing sectors in European countries and the discussion of different approaches to measure international competitiveness, the analysis is carried out at the meso-economic level by using "Revealed Comparative Advantage Indicators" to determine the competitive position of the German dairy industry. In comparison with other EU countries, the German dairy sector seems to have international competitive advantages in fresh, dried, and evaporated milk products. The results obtained verify the predominantly qualitative results found in the literature on the international competitiveness of this sector.