Dear readers,
Some positive developments related to the pig industry:
- U.S. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt lsigned into law a measure requiring manufactured protein products to be labeled differently from meat. requires food manufacturers, distributors and retailers to clearly disclose that cell-cultivated or cultured products or those that come from a lab, plants or insect proteins are not meat. The law places the burden of proof on the manufacturer and not the retailer.
- U.S. University of Nebraska-Lincoln is launching a program to help managers at smaller meat processing firms improve their skills and industry knowledge. The class is designed for owners, managers and management-track employees at small processing companies. A fee of $6,750 will cover transportation, lodging and meal expenses for up to two participants.
- U.K. Blakemans manufacturers of sausages for the foodservice industry has been sold to Yorkshire food producer Cranswick. Blakemans is a family business that has been manufacturing specialist raw and cooked sausage and meat products for over 70 years. The company is a leading supplier of sausages to UK fish and chip shops; and also supplies products to leading manufacturers of prepared meals.
- Brazilian meat company Pamplona Alimentos, one of the country’s leading producers, has announced its intention to invest approximately €22.55 million in the modernization of its 3 meat plants in Santa Catarina with the objective to increase pork production and feed manufacturing.
- Grupo 5L of Argentina is the merger of the pig farming companies Lartirigoyen, Las Lilas, Las Taperitas, La Payana, Los O’Dwyer, and Llorente Hnos. They are investing €42 million to build a pig slaughterhouse. It will be focused on exports, will have a large freezing capacity, and will be able to slaughter 40,000 animals per month. Together, the five companies have 14,500 breeding sows in five different provinces of the country.
- Inga Food of Spain currently has more than 650 integrated farms, with 85,000 white and Iberian sows, 1.5 million white pigs and more than 120,000 Iberian pigs. Grupo Vall Companys, Incarlopsa and Grup Cañigueral have reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Inga Food.
Events calendar:
- THAIFEX – Anuga Asia extends the Anuga experience to Asia, focusing on the food & beverages, food service & food technology. THAIFEX will take place from Tuesday to Saturday, 27 to 31 May 2025.
- Fispal Food Service is the most important trade fair for the out-of-home food sector in South America. The Fispal Food Service will take place on 4 days from Tuesday, 27. May to Friday, 30. May 2025 in Sao Paulo.
Where Corn Don’t Grow
Consolidation continues in Spain and South America, companies increasing their market shares. In the meantime some of the former major pig production companies in Europe take a different direction.
Danish Crown (DC) slaughtered 12% fewer pigs in its home market of Denmark in the first half of the current fiscal year (October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025). However, profit increased by 6% to €109 million. In recent months, some large fattening farms have preferred to market their animals to other slaughterhouses such as Tican or Danepork. Their payout prices were, on average, better than those of the industry leader. DC also closed some plants outside Denmark, consolidation done by downsizing.
The crop market in Europe has been largely influenced by the Russian-Ukrainian war. Grain exports from Ukraine have been excepted from taxes, tempering the increase of the main feed crops prices in Europe. The EU plans to reintroduce some taxes for the Ukrainian grains, while also increasing the taxation on the fertilizers form Russia and Belarus. In Europe the main pig producing countries are depending on imported grains. US tariff uncertainty is also making it difficult to calculate the cost of feeding the pigs where the corn don’t grow.
