SPAIN

INTERPORC: “Resistance and adaptation” have enabled the pork sector to advance in 2024

Pork

In 2024 - a year of "resilience, adaptation, and progress" - white pigs demonstrated their status as a driving force of the Spanish economy thanks to their ability to "sustain production and exports at historically high levels, improve the value of exports, and consolidate the recovery of domestic consumption".

Posted on Jun 05 ,00:20

This was stated by Daniel de Miguel, deputy director of the Interprofessional Agro-Food Association of White Pork ( INTERPORC ), during the presentation of the sector's annual report.

With an annual turnover of €25 billion and more than 415,000 jobs created, the white-coated pig industry accounts for 44% of total livestock production, 16.1% of total agricultural production, and nearly 9.5% of industrial GDP.

Overall, production reached 4.92 million tons (up 0.97%), of which 1.47 million tons were processed products, including sausages (46%) and cured hams and shoulders (21%). The livestock census also increased by 2%, while the number of farms, predominantly family-run and rural, stood at 67,586.

Exports: a commitment to added value

Spain remains the world's second-largest exporter and the largest in the European Union, with a total of 2.72 million tons exported, valued at €8.784 billion. These figures confirm the strategy adopted to prioritize value over volume. De Miguel explained that "we sell slightly less, but with greater added value, which constitutes a smart and sustainable strategy."

Pork now represents 85% of Spanish meat exports, 17% of the food industry's, and 2.2% of the national total. Furthermore, the sector's positive trade balance, €8.1 billion, is second only to the automotive sector.

Recovery of consumption in Spanish households

One of the most significant news stories of the year has been the consolidation of the upswing in domestic consumption of pork and pork products that began in 2023, reaching 816,500 tons (up 2.84%), with a total expenditure of €7.707 billion (up 5.6%). For De Miguel, these data reflect that "consumers value pork as a healthy, tasty, and excellent value option, also notable for its versatility and convenience in the kitchen."

Consumption outside the home

Delving into the consumption data, Javier Iglesias, from the Worldpanel Division (Kantar), has pointed out that more and more Spaniards are choosing to consume fresh pork outside the home, with 57.4% already doing so at some point, and similarly, the number of such occasions has increased, with a total of 7.4 times this year compared to 6.8 in 2023.

Pork products already represent 20% of all fresh meat consumption outside the home, but there is still enormous room for growth in the restaurant channel.

Furthermore, given that the senior segment accounts for 7 out of 10 out-of-home consumption, Kantar Worldpanel points to the appropriateness of targeting younger consumers.

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