THE ROLE OF DAIRY COOPERATIVES IN REDUCING WASTE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS IN THE LUBELSKIE VOIVODESHIP

The purpose of this paper was to determine the roleof dairy cooperatives which are a crucial factor in reducinglosses of dairy products at the distribution stage of the dairyproduction chain in the Lubelskie voivodeship. The researchwas conducted on local data provided by one of the largestPolish supermarket chains. In the Lubelskie voivodeship,dairy products are manufactured in 18 plants, including 14dairy cooperative members. Basic dairy products are mainlysupplied by local dairies, especially by dairy cooperatives.Operators based outside the Lubelskie voivodeship supplythe majority of processed milk products. The greatest productlosses are related to products supplied by dairies based outsidethe voivodeship. The main cause of dairy product loss in thesupply chain was product expiry. On average, the largest shareof expired products (excluding desserts) was noted for goodssupplied by dairies based outside the voivodeship. As regardsmost products supplied from outside the voivodeship, theirshare in losses exceeds their share in sales (by a few or up toseveral dozen percent). The retail chain covered by this studymainly relies on a wide range of basic local dairy productsoffered by Lublin dairies, especially including dairy cooperatives.These suppliers continue to be an important link in theregional dairy chain.