Greece is facing lower feta production and higher retail prices after disease outbreaks decimated sheep and goat herds, with livestock culling following sheep pox and foot-and-mouth disease driving a sharp drop in raw milk supplies.
Data from the Greek Agricultural Organization ELGO-DIMITRA shows sheep’s milk deliveries totaled 333,256 tons from January through April, down 8.3% from 363,176 tons in the same period of 2025. The shortfall widened sharply in April, when Lesvos deliveries dropped roughly 42% year-on-year following mass culls that began in mid-March.
Producer milk prices have already climbed more than 10% to €1.51 per kilogram in April, from €1.37 a year earlier – a rise that is being passed directly to retail feta prices. Industry executives project annual feta output will fall roughly 11%, or about 15,000 tons, against a typical production of 140,000 tons.
FETA FOOD & DRINK FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE ECONOMY
