Caserta – Italian buffalo milk is losing value and market share. This isn't simply a fluctuation in the economy, but a structural problem that is bringing farmers to their knees and threatening to undermine consumer confidence.
In recent months, the price paid at the farm gate has been steadily declining, crushed by a system that no longer distinguishes high-quality fresh milk from milk of uncertain origin or obtained through discounted practices.
The product, once it leaves the farm, enters a "black hole" with no real traceability: the market does not reward those who produce with high standards and sacrifices those who only aim to save money.
The situation was made worse by the recent ruling by the Campania Regional Administrative Court (No. 7291/2025 and other related rulings of November 2025), which clarified the inapplicability of Law 138/1974 on the prohibition of the use of powdered, concentrated, or frozen milk for non-PDO products to the buffalo supply chain.
A decision which, according to many operators, opens the doors to lower quality raw materials and to unfair competition which further depresses prices. «Today the farm gate price is collapsing for everyone» denounces Salvatore Foglia, breeder and President of the Bufalina Council of Altragricoltura.
"Demanding rigorous controls and traceability isn't a trade war: it serves to protect farmers' incomes, but above all to guarantee consumers the healthiness, authenticity, and truthfulness of an iconic product of our tradition." The lack of transparency also has direct consequences for safety: when margins are reduced to zero, companies cut back on maintenance, facility safety, and equipment upgrades, exposing those who work in the stables to increasing risks.
"We cannot expect food excellence while forcing producers to operate in a perpetual state of emergency," adds Foglia. For Altragricoltura's Bufalina Consulta, the solution lies in urgent legislative intervention: unblocking the Traceability Bill in Parliament (including measures such as Bill 1519-A and related proposals discussed in 2025), which introduces digital traceability requirements for buffalo milk and strengthened controls.
Only in this way can balance be restored to the supply chain, the farmers' work be valorized, and consumers be provided with an authentic and fully guaranteed product. The crisis in the Campania buffalo sector can no longer be postponed: without concrete intervention, the losers will not only be the farmers, but the entire supply chain and the quality that has made buffalo mozzarella famous worldwide.
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Comments (1)
Buffalo milk is a very important issue for Italy, but I believe there are many things wrong. Prices are falling, and consumers don't fully understand what they're buying. We need greater transparency and stricter controls to help farmers.