Miller Magazine Issue: 120 December 2019

GERMANY 92 MILLER / DECEMBER 2019 feed, is expected to rise 33.2% on the year to 9.82 million tonnes. Winter barley was generally ripe when the July heatwave arrived and so escaped late-sea- son damage. The spring barley crop, used for malt and beer production, is seen falling 11.8% to 1.94 million tonnes. The maize crop is forecast to rise 13.1 percent to 3.78 million tonnes but this would be 10.7 percent below the six-year average. Germany is a net exporter of wheat and barley, which it produces in ample quantitates, but it is a net importer of maize and corn, oats, rice, buckwheat, rye, and sorghum. Accordingly, the latter cereal cate- gories have the best prospects for foreign importers. Cereal product imports in Germany are mostly made up of bakery products, such as bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits, as well as pasta, and other preparations of flour, groats, and starch or malt extract. Most of the imports in Germany originate from the EU countries. In 2017, EU countries contributed to 95% of cereal import volume and 93% of import value, while non-EU countries – just 5% of import volume and 7% of import value. The higher value of cereal imports from non-EU countries reveals that from outside of the EU, higher valued grain varieties are being imported, which are not available from EU countries. Germany is among the largest consumers of grain in the EU. However, over the past 5 years, domestic consumption data has revealed a reduction by 12%, totaling to 41.4 million tonnes of consumed grain for food, feed and industrial purposes in 2017. Most of Germany’s consumption can be attributed to grain consumption as animal feed – approximately 60%, followed by food (18%), energy source ( 9%), industry (8%) and seed (2%). An unchanging staple in the German diet is bread and other baked goods. Consumption of bread re- mains particularly high, with the most popular prod- ucts being sliced bread and toast, as well as artisanal bread. Most of the bread consumption can be attrib- uted to private-label products. Bread in Germany is consumed in various forms and places – as an easy meal at home, convenient snack on the go or addi- tion to savory meal out-of-home, so its popularity is not expected to diminish in the nearest future. In fact, the ready-to-eat baked goods category is expected