Dear readers,
Prices continue to raise, but we have also other good news:
- 12-year-old Dallas Martinez from Texas was crowned Junior Market Barrow Grand Champion at the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In addition to the title and a belt buckle, he received a spot for his pig at the auction. At the subsequent auction, his Championship Market Barrow Pig was sold for 501,000 US dollars, the equivalent of 458,000 euros. This value breaks the previous record by over $100,000.
- Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have developed a reverse-genetics system for African swine fever virus (ASFV). JCVI Professor Sanjay Vashee, Ph.D., senior author on the paper: “By developing a synthetic genomics-based reverse-genetics system for ASFV, we are not only advancing our understanding of this virus but also creating tools that can be applied to other emerging viral threats. “
- Meat consumption in Germany grew in 2024, marking two consecutive years of increases. It reached 53.2 kg/person. Overall, meat consumption in 2024 amounted to 4.44 million tons, 0.8% more than the previous year. Only a few moths ago, during the “streetlight coalition” you could not find information like this in the media.
- According to the US Power of Meat 2024 report published in March , meat sales in the US reached a record $104.6 billion, and the number of kilograms sold increased by 2.3% compared to the previous year. 62% of this increase is due to one age group = millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996). More and more people looks for “protein” on the label, to fit into the trend of an active lifestyle. Another trend is the “simple labels”. Customers, especially younger generations, prefer shorter ingredients and less processed products . Meat is perceived as more natural than vegan substitutes, which are usually highly processed. In 2024, as many as 74% of Americans considered meat to be a valuable part of the diet and the best source of protein.
- Spain exported 296,714 tons of meat and meat products outside the EU in January and February, representing a 12% increase compared to 2024.Sales of pork rose 8.8% to 254,606 tons, while processed meats totaled 52,666 tons, a 7% increase.
- The Spanish ham and sausage production company Torre de Núñez is closing the 2024 financial year with an 11% increase in turnover, bringing it to €40.6 million. “The exports… to 35 countries already account for 17% of its revenue.” Torre de Núñez is carrying out an expansion project at its Conturiz facilities. With an investment exceeding €3.7 million, 3,000 m² of usable surface area will be added, increasing its sausage production capacity by 40%.
Events calendar:
- Salón Gourmet transforms the IFEMA Madrid pavilions into the world’s largest gastronomic showcase. More than 2,000 exhibitors will showcase more than 50,000 products with the participation of more than 100,000 professionals —of whom an estimated 15,000 will be foreign buyers from more than 100 countries. This year Salón Gourmets will occupy six pavilions from April 7 to 10.
- The “Food & Drink Expo”, a specialized trade fair of the British food and beverage industry. It will take place on 3 days from Monday, 07. April to Wednesday, 09. April 2025 in the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.
- WorldFood Poland is the largest food fair in Poland, it connects traders, retailers, manufacturers, and industry associations. The annual event takes place at the Warszawskie Centrum EXPO XXI in Warsaw on 3 days from Tuesday, 08.04.2025 to Thursday, 10.04.2025 .
- The ANUGA Select Brazil is an international trade fair specializing in food and beverages. This year the fair takes place on 3 days from Tuesday, 08.04.2025 to Thursday, 10.04.2025 in Sao Paulo.
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
As it happened also some weeks ago, there is a huge disagreement between the farmers and the slaughterhouses in Serbia. Six months after a sever ASF outbreak in the main pig production area, the farmers consider higher prices for their pigs, in the context of the general price hike in Europe, wile the meat business operators prefer to import only the needed main elements. With an ongoing political crisis , there is no one to mediate between the two sides.
Trump-appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had proceeded with his threatened job cuts at a host of government agencies. The job losses number in the 1,000s, taking in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Populism is used to win elections, but is usually followed by a more professional approach of the important administrative issues. Closing or eviscerating agencies mandated to control public health, animal diseases and food production doesn’t seem to serve the general interest.
Some of my readers know that I have some experience in journalism. It was the time when there was still some deontology in this domain. Information was checked and double-checked before publishing. Even politically partisan media outlets were selecting news favorable for their cause, not creating and distributing fake news.
In the last decade, easy access to mobile technology and the social media created billions of “journalists”. Anybody can say and write almost anything and, in the name of “freedom of speech” it is immediately published and distributed all over the world. Unfortunately, the appetite for sensational is easy to be fulfilled by any wild announcement, conspiracy theory.
The last weeks have seen a crisis in Hungary and Slovakia, caused by several outbrakes of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease. We can debate about the speed and efficiency of the measures taken by the administrations of the two states, that’s fine. Even by doing so, the comments should be done by professionals. Some people try to remember the approach taken over 50 years ago, at the last outbreak, forgetting some “minor” changes: it was the communist era, measures were dictated by the communist party and no one dared to disobey. Meanwhile, as EU member states, regulations apply to this domain, based on science. But, also here, the population of the affected villages distributes wild conspiracy theories. Animal protection activists also interfere, as well as politicians from the opposition. Everybody wants to rule the world…
