Competitiveness of milk and wine production and processing in Albania

This study provides an empirical assessment of the competitiveness of Albanian dairy and wine production, based on specifically collected survey data. For both product groups, the analysis is carried out on two levels: farm level production of raw material and processing and manufacturing of the final product in the food industry. In a third step, both levels are aggregated to analyse the competitiveness of the entire production chain for each product group. Overall, the wine sector appears in an economically more favourable situation than the milk sector. Although there is currently no relevant export of wine, there has been considerable in-vestment activity at the farm level and the harmonisation of quality standards with EU legislation is currently pursued. Grape processing is currently profitable. Small farm and herd sizes limit the profitability and efficiency of dairy farming. Fragmented and dispersed production units increase the costs of milk collection. International quality standards are by far not met. This is partially due to the high share of informally traded milk and the importance of direct sales to consumers. It is therefore unlikely that Albanian dairy products will become internationally competitive in the near future.