Slovenia’s largest diary Ljubljanske Mlekarne (Ljubljana Dairy) has dispatched the first shipment of its Planica ice cream to China, part of a total of 43 tonnes planned to be exported to the East Asian country in 2020. 

The company called the launch of exports to one of the world’s biggest markets a major breakthrough, especially in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

The shipment, consisting of almost 35,000 one-litre boxes of Planica tropical and chocolate flavours, was sent to China from Slovenia's Koper port on April 9 and is expected to reach its destination within five weeks, the company said in a press release. 

Ljubljanske Mlekarne first entered the Chinese market in 2016, dispatching a shipment of long-life milk. The company is now strengthening its presence on the market, where a large number of milk and dairy products providers from Europe, New Zealand and Australia are already active.

“At a time when the global pandemic of the new coronavirus is crippling the world economy and export uncertainty is very high, we are all the more happy about successful business like this,” said Tomaz Znidaric, director of Ljubljanske Mlekarne.

Slovenia produces 30% more milk than it consumes, and exports the rest, which means the sector is threatened by border closures as countries seek to guard against the spread of coronavirus. 

“Recently, there have been numerous initiatives for consumers to reach out to Slovenian products … Only by working together can we reduce the negative impact of the current situation on the stability of our industry. From this point of view, new opportunities in foreign markets are very valuable,” said Znidaric. 

According to Znidaric, Ljubljanske Mlekarne has benefitted from Slovenia’s reputation for eco-friendliness when entering the Chinese market four years ago. “Slovenia’s green environment and the supply chain with milk and dairy products starting on a small Slovenian farm are rightly associated with high quality,” he said. “Therefore, we expect that the addition of the Planica range of ice cream will be positively accepted by consumers.”

Ljubljanske Mlekarne is one of the largest food processing companies in Slovenia. It purchases more than 500,000 litres of milk from local dairy farms every day, which is a third of Slovenian raw milk production.