Dear readers,
Some good things related to the pig industry:
- According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture of Spain the exports of pork meat and byproducts 513,247 metric tons in the first four months of 2025, a 35% increase in exports to the previous year.
- The Spanish regional government of Catalonia has approved the Extensive Livestock Farming Action Plan 2025-2028 , with a total of 33 specific measures aimed at promoting extensive livestock farming .The actions focused on support measures include:
- Reviewing and simplifying subsidies for extensive livestock farming to make them more accessible.
- The creation of a specific plan for extensive livestock farming in the Rural Development Program.
- Prioritizing extensive livestock farming for loans with the Catalan Institute of Finance.
- German meat manufacturer The Premium Food Group, formally known as Tönnies, has invested an undisclosed sum in local sausage and hams business The Family Butchers. The Family Butchers announced the “strategic partnership” between the two companies, which aims to stabilize “the company in an extremely challenging economic situation”.
- The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is calling on transporters to further tighten cleaning and disinfection (C&D) of animal transport vehicles due to African swine fever (ASF), which is spreading in Germany. Due to the threat, the NVWA has tightened up checks on compliance with the rules. There is also a second C&D obligation for means of transport of even-toed ungulates for Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and for all countries outside the European Union. The NVWA has created a C&D step-by-step plan for this purpose.
Events calendar:
- Fispal Tecnologia is the leading trade fair for the food and beverage industry in Latin America. Held annually in June, in Brazil, at the São Paulo Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, the fair will take place on 4 days from Tuesday, 24. June to Friday, 27. June 2025.
- Ivory Coast Food Expo is a hub for innovation and business opportunities in the food and agricultural sectors. Held at The Parc des Expositions d’Abidjan, the fair takes place on 3 days from Tuesday, 24.06.2025 to Thursday, 26.06.2025.
- Livestock Philippines is an international trade fair specializing in innovative production and processing in animal husbandry, livestock farming, and the feed industry. The fair will take place on 3 days from Wednesday, 25. June to Friday, 27. June 2025 in Pasay.
Tomorrow Is Another Day
The Family Butcher (TFB) is Kemper and Reinert’s family business, the second largest German sausage, ham and meat products manufacturer. The financial situation is so serious that it has agreed with Tönnies that its parent company Premium Food Group will acquire a majority stake in TFB. With 2,300 employees spread over 7 production locations( one in Romania), TFB achieves a turnover of approximately 700 million euros. The approval of the German Competition Authority is still required, and we have seen last week that the approval is not guaranteed.
The Central-Northen part of Europe was the heart of the pig industry. Now the political situation shifts the leading to the South, to Spain.
The Belgian regional government of Flanders has launched a purchase program for pig farms, in order to reduce nitrogen emission. After 156 farms accepted the government’s purchase offer in the first round, another 210 farms joined in the current second round. The 366 participating farms will cease their pig farming and demolish their barns.
In the Netherlands a similar program is currently underway. More than 1,500 livestock farms there are applying for the government’s phase-out program. More than 500 of the submitted applications come from pig farming .
Germany has a deadline ending at the first trimester of 2026 for closing pig farms that are not investing in the new animal welfare standards.
In the East of Europe we are struggling with the ASF. While the Netherlands develops a standard procedure for cleaning the livestock carriers, we adopt a different strategy: tomorrow is another day!
