The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketing structure of milk processors, factors influencing production and problems faced by firms following recent economic conditions in the Trakya region. Dairy cattle production is more developed in the research area than in other regions. In addition, the region has played an important role with its high milk processing capacity. The research results indicate that the dairy industry has important problems, such as an insufficient and low quality milk supply, and poor hygiene and marketing. In particular, a large number of small-and medium-sized milk processors face extensive hygiene and marketing problems. The other problems in the milk sector are an insufficient cold chain, high production costs and bureaucracy. Although firms do not regard the absence of a cold chain as an important factor, it is a major problem and obstacle to the improvement of the milk sector. Factors affecting production and dairy firms were analyzed by the multidimensional scaling (MDS) method. The MDS analysis results indicate that total market demand and dairy product prices are major factors affecting production decisions. Another MDS result reveals that the dairy industry faces two serious problems: milk quality and marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketing structure of milk processors, factors influencing production and problems faced by firms following recent economic conditions in the Trakya region. Dairy cattle production is more developed in the research area than in other regions. In addition, the region has played an important role with its high milk processing capacity. The research results indicate that the dairy industry has important problems, such as an insufficient and low quality milk supply, and poor hygiene and marketing. In particular, a large number of small-and medium-sized milk processors face extensive hygiene and marketing problems. The other problems in the milk sector are an insufficient cold chain, high production costs and bureaucracy. Although firms do not regard the absence of a cold chain as an important factor, it is a major problem and obstacle to the improvement of the milk sector. Factors affecting production and dairy firms were analyzed by the multidimensional scaling (MDS) method. The MDS analysis results indicate that total market demand and dairy product prices are major factors affecting production decisions. Another MDS result reveals that the dairy industry faces two serious problems: milk quality and marketing.