Subsidised milk is no longer provided at all schools in Germany. The sale of school milk has fallen by more than 70 percent since 1993. We can assume, however, that, due to the complicated administrative procedure which stands in the way of subsidisation, non-subsidised milk and dairy products is being consumed at German schools.

According to many researchers, fundamental changes in dietary habits mean we can no longer be sure that children and adolescents are maintaining a healthy diet during school hours, i.e. a diet geared to their specific needs and particularly one ensuring sufficient amounts of calcium.

In the school year 2008/2009, only around 36.7 million kilograms of subsidised school milk drinks were being distributed to an estimated 845,156 school children who drank them regularly. The payments forthcoming from Brussels amounted to 7.2 million euros. In the school year 1994/95, the supply amounted to 100 million kilograms. This represents a development which not only nutritionists considered to be alarming. The decline in consumption is leading to ever decreasing delivery quantities to schools. In some regions of the country, the delivery of reduced quantities of milk to schools and kindergartens has proven economically impracticable for many suppliers, since delivery costs often far outweigh the corresponding income if supplies need to be transported over longer distances.

Other reasons for the decline in school milk are the cuts in EU subsidisation allowances for school milk. The allowance amounts only 18.15 Cent/kg since 01.01.2008. On 1994 the allowance was 29.44 Cent/kg.
In addition, we have seen the exclusion of a number of products from the original range eligible for subsidisation as well as a ban on the use of school milk products in the preparation of meals. Given the structural changes in the dairy industry, milk processing operations are increasingly concentrated at a limited number of sites, making it increasingly difficult to provide supplies to small-quantity recipients. Dairy producers are nonetheless attempting to supply these recipients, despite the sometimes unprofitable nature of such transactions. Their objective in doing so is, of course, not least based on their intent to generate potential customer loyalty among future adult consumers.

The School Milk Scheme has recently been reviewed by the European Commission taking into account a number of requests and suggestions from the Member States, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. So a positive development is for example the expansion of the eligible product range. With the review of the scheme a number of new, innovative and more attractive products have become eligible for the EU-subsidy. Further to various types of drinking milk, children have access, among others, to certain fermented milk products with fruit or fruit juice, plain fermented milk products, such as yoghurt, buttermilk, kephir etc., and a wide range of cheeses.

A radical decline in consumption of school milk

Development of milk consumption at schools in Germany
Federal States	total School year 2008/2009 in t	changes in % to 2007/2008	changes in % 2008 to 1993	total calendar year 1993 in t
Berlin	2.875	-4.4	-62	7.660
Brandenburg	1.243	-4.3	-86	8.733
Baden- Württemberg	700	-11.9	-90	6.720
Bavaria	1.579	-8.5	-84	10.160
Bremen	352	-8.8	-63	955
Hamburg	722	8.7	-78	3.295
Hesse	1.620	-2.4	-74	6.348
Mecklenburg- West Pomer.	961	-0.9	-82	5.342
Lower Saxony	3.566	-8.9	-75	13.991
North Rhine Westphalia	16.073	2.0	-39	26.319
Rhineland-Palatinate	499	11,6	-83	2.890
Schleswig- Holstein	1.073	-8.4	-83	5.927
Saarland	since 01.06.2005 own scheme
Saxony	2.617	-6.4	-84	16.160
Saxony- Anhalt	1.371	-8.4	-82	7.515
Thuringia	1.585	-8.2	-80	7.783
total	36,746	-2.2	-71,8	130,223
Source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture