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2067  MHP's poultry sales boosted by exports  MHP's poultry production increased by 10% in the third quarter of this year compared to year-earlier levels, reaching 150,650 tonnes, while in the first nine months of this year, the volumes increased by 8% to 458,540 tonnes.  <p>The growth in total production was based on an increase in the production of heavier chicken and decreased share of thinning as well as due to the launch of new rearing sites.</p> <p>During 9M 2018 third parties sales amounted to 449,215 tonnes of poultry, which is 7% higher&nbsp;than in 9M 2017, driven by growth in exports and following the strategy of poultry meat stock&nbsp;decrease starting from Q3 2018.</p> <p>During the third quarter of 2018 the volume of chicken meat exports totaled 80,361 tonnes and&nbsp;increased by 52% compared to the third quarter of 2017 volume - 52,990 tonnes. During 9M 2018,&nbsp;poultry exports increased by 22% and reached 213,925 tonnes compared to 9M 2017 (176,015&nbsp;tonnes), mainly driven by the growth of exports in Q3 and Q1 2018. MHP continued to follow a&nbsp;strategy of both geographic diversification and in a product mix optimization building-up the export&nbsp;volumes of chicken meat across the MENA, the EU, Africa and Asia. Total poultry exports in 9M&nbsp;2018 constituted around 48% vs 42% in 9M 2017 of total poultry sales volumes.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-19 07:18:46  2025-08-05 22:27:32  Details Edit Delete
2069  79 arrested in Spain for illegally smuggling bluefin tuna    <p>Spanish police arrested 79 suspects in a case regarding illegally smuggling bluefin tuna from Italy and Malta into Spain. The operation had been taking in an estimated &euro;12.5 million annually.<br />The operation revealed a large network of fishing companies and distributors were involved in the ring, including one of Europe&rsquo;s biggest seafood farming companies, the Spanish Ricardo Fuentes and Sons Group, according to Europol. Investigators found the fish had been caught illegally in Italian and Maltese waters, imported to Spain via French harbours, and was then traded illegally in Spain. The bluefin from Malta was imported illegally using documents from legal fishing and authorized farms, while the fish caught in Italian waters arrived in Spain without documents or inspections. Additionally, some of the fish seized in the raid had been caught in Spanish waters and transported in false bottoms under the deck of a fishing vessel, Europol said in a press release. Several people became sick after eating the products brought into the country illegally, likely as a result of the unhygienic conditions the fish was stored after being caught and transported.<br />Police seized 80,000 kilos of bluefin tuna of illicit origin, in addition to &euro;500,000 in cash and jewellery, seven high-end vehicles collectively valued at more than &euro;600,000 and documents demonstrating the tuna was caught illegally and smuggled into Spain.<br />Samantha Burgess, Head of Marine Policy for WWF Europe, called for the European Parliament and Council to revisit the E.U.&rsquo;s regulations to ensure compliance with the rules through improved monitoring and control methods, including digitization of records.</p> <p>"This level of smuggled fish and black money occurring on the European market in 2018 contravenes the leadership role that the EU is taking in the global fight against illegal fishing. Only through digitization of records to trace where fish were caught can we remove the legal loopholes and ensure each member state takes their responsibilities seriously to prevent more illegal fish entering the E.U. market," she said, according to <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/illegal-bluefin-tuna-smuggling-ring-busted-in-europe?utm_source=marketo&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter&amp;utm_content=newsletter&amp;mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTXpjNE1ERmlaV0pqWWpFMCIsInQiOiIwbVhFU3QrYmR5TitZRDBOeFkrUnpjb1wvQjVLc1lFTzFkdDQwSXQrbkkzSnFFYVRuZUFXaE5paStUbDdaT3N0QTJ2XC9tY3RFUytnZXZzTTlXVTZ2RWlMa29rbmdScmtHSFNnbDFFazhHcGloMzFtbklwU0dINGRkSkY2MloxZStnIn0%3D">Seafood Source</a> magazine.<br />Next month, from 12 to 19 November, Croatia will host the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-19 09:19:41  2025-08-06 05:57:40  Details Edit Delete
2070  Mad cow disease found in Scotland  This is the first case of BSE reported in the country since 2009.  <p>A farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has been locked down after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been discovered, informs the Scottish government.<br />This is the first incidence of BSE in Scotland since 2009 when a massive outbreak devastated the farming industry. Fergus Ewing, Scotland's rural economy secretary, said the government has set up a precautionary ban on the movement of animals from the farm, which is "standard procedure.", informs <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/18/uk/scotland-mad-cow-disease-intl/index.html">CNN</a>.<br />All animals over four years of age that die on a farm are routinely tested for BSE under the Scottish government's surveillance system. The animals suspected of carrying the virus will be destroyed in line with European Union requirements. <br />Sheila Voas, Scotland's chief veterinary officer, said: "While it is too early to tell where the disease came from, in this case, its detection is proof that our surveillance system is doing its job. We are working closely with the Animal and Plant Health Agency to answer this question, and in the meantime, I would urge any farmer who has concerns to immediately seek veterinary advice."<br />The disease was first detected in British cattle in 1986 and between then and 2001, 180,000 cattle were affected. The outbreak reached its peak in January 1993, when almost 1,000 new cases were reported every week. A global ban on the export of British beef was imposed in March 1996 and this remained in place until the EU lifted it 10 years later. <br />BSE attacks a cow's central nervous system and is usually fatal. Before that, the animal becomes aggressive and loses its coordination. When transmitted to humans, BSE can trigger a fatal, brain-wasting disease in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-19 09:36:11  2025-08-06 03:57:54  Details Edit Delete
2071  Two AI cases reported in Southern Bulgaria  The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has announced recently that the Avian Influenza (AI) virus has been detected at a duck farm and a chicken farm in the village of Voivodovo, Haskovo, southern Bulgaria, Reuters reports.  <p>The two AI cases were confirmed by lab results, while an investigation is currently underway to determine the origin of the outbreaks.</p> <p>The authorities announced also that all the birds on those two farms will be culled and that measures are taken to prevent the spreading of the disease. A three-kilometer protection zone and a surveillance zone of 10 kilometers have already been set up, which prohibit the marketing and transport of domestic, wild birds and eggs in the region.</p> <p>So far, there are no reported cases of avian influenza virus transmission from birds to humans, but the discovery of such outbreaks has forced slaughtering campaigns and farmers have been ordered to keep the birds closed.<br />The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has asked all of its 180 Member States to increase biosecurity measures on farms, markets and in poultry trade to limit the spread of the disease.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-19 10:12:16  2025-08-05 22:30:18  Details Edit Delete
2075      <p><strong>EuroMeatNews: What are the main challenges for the players in the meat industry? </strong></p> <p><strong>Guillaume Rou&eacute;, president of IMS:</strong> By 2050 there will be an estimated global population of more than 9 billion, up from around 7.5 billion today. That growth will be almost entirely in developing and emerging economies.&nbsp;Many will also be richer than today and, as they currently have much lower levels of meat consumption than in richer countries, will increase the demand for meat and other animal-sourced food. But there are still over 800 million hungry people in the world. Therefore, the biggest global challenge is not just producing enough to satisfy the projected growth in meat consumption but doing so sustainably and fairly to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable people.<br />The uncertainty as to the future of the multilateral trading system, underpinned by the WTO and regional trade agreements, is a key concern. IMS is a fervent supporter of free trade. In this very fluid and changing context, the industry wants to ensure open international markets, with trade subject to evidence-based standards and regulations mutually agreed among countries, operating on a level playing field, avoiding unfair competitive practices.<br />The livestock industry continues to be vulnerable to infectious diseases. The latest headlines are focused on African swine fever, with an outbreak in China and the potential for further spread within Europe (the virus has been&nbsp;found in wild boars in Belgium). But there are many other diseases, so there is a continuous challenge to improve animal health and welfare. IMS cooperation with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and other competent intergovernmental agencies is fundamental.<br />The meat and livestock industries have been keenly aware of the need to address the challenges and criticisms they are facing to enhance sustainability while meeting changing consumer demand. The responses have been on various levels but always based on sound scientific evidence. At the international level, the IMS brings together national organizations to discuss common issues and problems, engaging and providing input to discussions in relevant international government organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Codex Alimentarius, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL).<br />The IMS and its member organizations have been tireless in contributing its expertise and drawing on robust research. An important point to stress is that some of the criticisms of the industry only focuses on a single-issue approach and does not recognize the complex trade-offs that are involved in meeting a wide and diverse range of objectives. This is why the global approach pursued by IMS members is the way forward.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What consumption trends have you noticed so far and how are they shaping the meat industry?</strong> </p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> With the explosion of social media, different views and opinions vie for the attention of politicians and the public. In many countries, particularly (but not only) in the developed world consumers, NGOs and commentators want to return to small-scale, less intensive, organic, local- sourced traditional livestock systems, but it must be stressed that this is a high-cost approach. The challenge is to adapt to changing consumer preferences, with a steady decline in overall per capita meat consumption especially in developed countries, a shift to &ldquo;white meat&rdquo; (and no meat diets), and confronting criticism on a wide range of issues, concerning animal welfare in intensive production systems, water pollution from animal manure, and health risks from red meat consumption.<br />The global meat industry must step up its efforts to build trust and communicate peer-reviewed scientific evidence as to the environmental, and nutritional and health benefits of meat consumption in a balanced diet.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What is your opinion on plastic packaging? Is there a general consensus among the players in the meat industry to reduce plastic usage in their packaging?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> First of all, packaging is important because it is allowing us to enjoy high-quality goods safe, fresh, undamaged and uncontaminated from everywhere around the world. Perishable foods especially have shorter shelf life than any other packed, preserved foods in the market, using the right packaging is highly essential to avoid spoilage and to maintain its quality and freshness before your food products would reach to consumers. Plastics packaging make packaging lighter, shatter resistant and more energy efficient. In most developed countries, various plastic packages are being recycled or recovered for energy value.</p> <p>The meat industry is constantly innovating in packaging design to minimize plastic usage. For example, increasing use of mono materials which are easy to recycle. Another example, one of our partners is implementing regrowable fiber-based materials, such as paper, cardboard, and materials based on so-called &ldquo;biopolymers&rdquo;. We believe that better packaging technologies will help reducing packaging material waste and food waste.</p> <p><strong>EMN: There are a few producers that started to reduce the use of antibiotics in animals. Do you think this will become a common aim for the global meat industry in the following years?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> IMS promotes responsible use of antibiotics. This means using only when needed, under the supervision of a qualified professional (for example a veterinarian).<br />As a producer, I use only as much as necessary to ensure both good animal health and welfare. Moreover, antibiotics are expensive! The IMS is committed to the global effort to better manage antibiotic use in livestock, for example<br />through our participation in the Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial resistance which is composed of the Codex Alimentarius, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organisation (WHO). I would also remark that it is equally important to properly manage antibiotic use in humans.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What is your opinion on blockchain technology? Will it spread further in the global meat industry?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> Blockchain is an exciting new technology that could have a positive impact on the global meat industry, particularly if it can deliver on the promise for more transparency and trust. For example, the meat industry&rsquo;s continuing&nbsp;efforts to improve sustainability could be better communicated to the consumer. However, it is not a magic bullet &ndash; it does not suddenly make the data entered more accurate, or those entering the data more trustworthy. There is&nbsp;still a lot of work ahead to adapt it for the specific needs of the meat industry.</p> <p><strong>EMN: How will Brexit and the recent trade wars shape the global meat trade?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> The first point to note is that as yet there is no agreement on what sort of Brexit will emerge &ndash; and which trading relations the UK will have with the EU and with other countries. From the various studies that have been undertaken it is clear that the &ldquo;harder&rdquo; the Brexit (the UK is no longer part of the EU single market or customs union and trades on WTO terms) the more disruption to trade in the short term, and the more adjustment required in both the UK and other countries, particularly in the EU countries that engage in a lot of meat trade with the UK. On the other hand, meat-exporting countries, including New Zealand, Australia, United States, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, might be expected to pick up more business in the UK. In reality, it is likely that there will be a move to the mutual recognition of regulations, standards and customs procedures between the UK and other countries, but it is too early to say.</p> <p><strong>EMN: There has been much debate on whether the lab-grown meat is safe for human consumption. What is IMS&rsquo; position on this subject? Is it a threat to the global meat industry?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> Lab-grown meat is an interesting but still very new development with many unanswered questions. The IMS position is that the many benefits of including naturally produced (from animals) meat, as part of a balanced diet are scientifically proven, but they are not for lab-grown meat. Moreover, the claims that lab-grown meat will be more environmentally friendly (use less land, water, etc.) are not proven. In fact, it is well established that livestock use land that is mainly not suitable for other agricultural activities, use mainly feed not suitable for human consumption (that would otherwise be wasted), and in so doing bring a net environmental contribution to sustainably feeding the world.</p> <p><strong>EMN: The vegan and vegetarian trends are becoming more popular. So far, France was the only country in the EU to take&nbsp;</strong><strong>charge on the problem of denominations. Do you think other countries will follow France&rsquo;s move?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> The consumer deserves to know the truth about the product they are purchasing. Meat is a high value, an excellent source of high-quality protein which is also full of essential micronutrients. It should be illegal to not clearly label non-meat products to avoid confusion with real meat. I believe many other countries will soon follow a similar path as France,&nbsp;which is well known as a country of gastronomy.</p> <p><strong>EMN: There have been a lot of companies that lately are producing more bio-organic meat. How do you see the evolution of this trend?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> At the end of the day, we need to supply according to consumer preferences. Organic meat production is more expensive, but some consumers are willing to pay for it. Similarly, other consumers have less disposable income and want affordable meat &ndash; we need to also supply for that market. I want to point out that there is no single definition of what is &ldquo;organic&rdquo; meat, so there is a lot of potential for confusion. Another confusing term I often see applied to food products (not just meat) is &ldquo;natural&rdquo;, which has even less scientific meaning. My point is that the meat industry always has and will continue to adapt to consumer demand, but at the same time it is also important for us to provide clear, transparent information&nbsp;about what we are doing so that the consumer can make an informed decision.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What is IMS&rsquo; projection regarding the meat prices?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> The IMS does not undertake forecasts or projections of prices of meats, although its member countries draw on their own assessments or draw on the analysis undertaken in international government organizations or independent research consultancies specializing in agriculture and food, such as GIRA. The principal source of intergovernmental projections and&nbsp;analysis in the agriculture sector is the annual OECD-FAO Agriculture Outlook, which makes projections for the next 10 years.<br />The latest edition notes that production in 2017 reached record levels for most primary agricultural commodities. Global meat production, which increased by 1.25% in 2017, is projected to be 15% higher in 2027, three-quarters of which will come from developing countries, with poultry seeing the most rapid expansion, followed by pig meat. But demand growth has started to weaken, in particular in China and new sources of global demand are not considered sufficient to maintain overall growth, and this is expected to persist over the coming decade. As a result, prices of agricultural commodities&nbsp;are expected to remain low. While nominal meat prices are projected to gradually increase until 2027, prices adjusted&nbsp;for inflation are expected to trend downwards.</p> <p><strong>EMN: Which countries do you think will further develop their meat industries and increase exports?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> According to the OECD-FAO Outlook, the combined share of the two largest meat-exporting countries, Brazil and the United States, is expected to increase to around 47%, contributing nearly two-thirds of the expected increase in global meat exports over the projection period. However, China is a country to be watched as it is intent on increasing its level<br />of self-sufficiency in meats.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What markets do you expect will witness a significant growth?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> According to the OECD-FAO Outlook, at the global level, meat exports (excluding live animals) are projected to be 20% higher in 2027 than in the base period. This represents a slowing down of meat trade growth to an annual average rate of 1.5% compared to 2.9% during the previous decade. Meat imports into Asia account for 56% of global trade, and poultry will constitute more than half of this additional import demand. Rapid growth in imports from Africa is projected to increase&nbsp;the import share of the region by 2027. The Middle East North Africa region will also increase its import of meat, the bulk<br />of this growth in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States.<br />As the projected production growth in developing countries remains insufficient to satisfy demand growth, particularly in Asia and Africa, import demand is expected to remain strong throughout the outlook period. The most significant growth in the share of additional meat import will be in Asia, in particular in the Philippines and Viet Nam. Developed countries are still expected to account for more than half of global meat exports by 2027, but their share decreases slightly relative<br />to the base period.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What is IMS&rsquo; strategy in promoting meat consumption?</strong></p> <p><strong>GR:</strong> We believe meat and livestock products have a key role to play in sustainably feeding the growing world population. More importantly, without livestock, there cannot be a long-term sustainable agriculture. It is not a question of&nbsp;plants versus meat. We need both livestock and crops to co-exist and be produced in the most sustainable ways.<br />The consumer wants to be reassured that the livestock industry is striving to be more sustainable. It is not often known&nbsp;for example, that according to the FAO more than 80% of livestock feed is not edible by humans, and that often livestock&nbsp;is raised on land not suitable for arable crops (such as in arid and mountainous regions). The IMS mission is to foster continuous improvement in sustainability with a solid basis in science. I also want to emphasize that it is not only a question of reducing harmful environmental impacts and limiting greenhouse gas emissions, it also means enhancing beneficial impacts, such as capturing carbon in pastures, increasing biodiversity linked with livestock and livestock feed&nbsp;production, and preserving valued landscapes.<br />The IMS believes that when consumers have the right, science-based information about the nutritional qualities of meat&nbsp;and animal products (milk, eggs, etc), they will be convinced of the many benefits it brings. Dietary guidelines around the world recommend consumption of meat in appropriate amounts as part of a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle. Meat is an important source of more than 10 essential nutrients required for growth, development and general wellbeing, including protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins. Above all, meat is delicious, and the consumer can enjoy it, knowing that in doing so they are also contributing to global food security and sustainably providing for our growing world population.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-21 09:14:03  2025-08-05 15:37:54  Details Edit Delete
2076      <p>EuroMeatNews: How does the African swine fever outbreaks impact Belgium&rsquo;s pork trade and what measures are taken to limit the spreading of the disease?<br />Ren&eacute; Maillard: ASF is directly affecting our exports to third countries, and especially to the Asian countries. Most Asian countries are banning countries with cases of ASF, be it wild boars or domestic pigs. We must stress that in Belgian only wild boars are affected in the South-East region of Belgium. Nevertheless, we had some commercial issues with our exports to certain member states of the EU not respecting the European rules. <br />The Belgian authorities are implementing very strictly the European protective measures and OIE rules regarding ASF. For doing so they have been congratulated and supported by the European Commission. Since the first case was confirmed by wild boars on 13th of September a 63,000 hectare infection zone has immediately been delimited with the appropriate measures. <br />Since all domestic pigs (about 4,000) in that area have been precautionary culled. The Belgian government wants to contain the disease within the wild boar population and eventually eradicate it. <br />EMN: How did the beef sector perform so far this year? What do you expect for 2019?<br />RM: Belgian beef consumption has been declining for years as in all Western European countries. Changing eating habits are the main reason for that: formerly we used to eat big pieces of beef what shifted to the consumption of more elaborated products containing less meat. But in the same period, our exports of beef are increasing, especially to neighboring countries.</p> <p>EMN: What consumer trends have you noticed in recent years and what changes have the producers made to satisfy their clients&rsquo; needs?<br />RM: Some societal issues are in the spotlights of the media: sustainability, animal health and animal welfare. This is putting more pressure on the meat sector as retailers are pushing the meat producers to meet the highest standards. At the same price.<br />EMN: France has forbidden producers from using affiliated meat terms for their plant-based products. Do you see this happening anytime soon in Belgium?<br />RM: The French Assembl&eacute;e was the first to take this measure of common sense. A veggie burger is not a burger, but a bun with some cooked vegetal products: a veggie burger is an ersatz product and not the real stuff. Naming your product a veggie burger is misleading for the consumer.<br />I hope that the right denomination of a product will be enforced in the whole Union</p> <p>EMN: What percentage does the organic meat production account for from Belgium&rsquo;s total meat production? <br />RM: The organic meat production accounts for 1 % of the total meat production. It is growing in Belgium but at a very slow pace.</p> <p>EMN: Will Brexit affect Belgium&rsquo;s meat industry in any way?<br />RM: The UK is a big meat importing country. It will impact all their suppliers. We expect huge logistic problems at the border checks. With big delays for lorries and ships.<br />Finally, the British meat consumer will pay more for his meat.<br />EMN: What is your view on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement?<br />RM: For our European beef producers, it is understandably a hot issue and difficult question. All of us want the maximum market access in the world, but at the same time, we want to protect our own markets. It is like wanting at the same something and its opposite.<br />EMN: What markets are the Belgian meat producers targeting in the near future?<br />RM: In the short term we will maximize our efforts on our existing eastern European markets and together with the Belgian diplomacy and our Food Agency, we will target on the reopening of the Asian markets under embargo.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-21 16:16:38  2025-08-06 06:38:57  Details Edit Delete
2077  ASF, the nightmare of the pork sector  The spreading of the disease through Europe and Asia seems unstoppable at this moment and it could be a game changer in global trade.  <p>There are ten years since African Swine Fever is present at the borders of the EU and China, more precisely in Russia. However, there are certain reasons that point out different evolutions of the disease in each region affected by the outbreaks.</p> <p>Russia has the advantage&nbsp;of land distances between&nbsp;farms and that helped to stop the&nbsp;spreading of the virus at a fast&nbsp;pace. &ldquo;Russia has tried to stop it&nbsp;and has made an excellent effort&nbsp;but so far has not been successful.&nbsp;Without a doubt in Russia&nbsp;and now Europe, humans and&nbsp;back yard production have been&nbsp;a major reason for the spread&nbsp;of ASF. Russia has land and&nbsp;strict biosecurity systems and&nbsp;protocols&rdquo;, Jim Long, President&nbsp;and CEO of Genesus, compares&nbsp;the situation.</p> <p>However, it was Russia&nbsp;that stood at the origin of the&nbsp;spreading of the virus and the&nbsp;current development in Europe,&nbsp;where countries such as Latvia,&nbsp;Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus,&nbsp;Poland, Romania, Bulgaria,&nbsp;Hungary, the Czech Republic&nbsp;and Belgium are already experiencing&nbsp;losses due to multiple&nbsp;outbreaks, biosecurity measures&nbsp;and banned exports.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Different approaches&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Even if quarantine, restricted&nbsp;transportation and culling the&nbsp;animals infested are the main&nbsp;measures adopted by authorities&nbsp;in the countries affected by&nbsp;ASF outbreaks, differences are&nbsp;also visible.&nbsp;<br />Russia has appealed to systematic&nbsp;hunt of wild boars for&nbsp;several years to reduce the risk of spreading the disease through&nbsp;the whole country.&nbsp;A similar measure is in discussion&nbsp;in Poland but that came&nbsp;out after 4 years of fight against&nbsp;ASF outbreaks that already&nbsp;count more than 200 cases. In the whole EU block, new&nbsp;measures have been imposed&nbsp;this summer for the member<br />states affected by the disease&nbsp;regarding pig farming, especially&nbsp;for outdoor farms systems, and&nbsp;for wild boar population. The<br />EU legislation regarding the affected&nbsp;areas is fully in line with&nbsp;the OIE international standards.&nbsp;Nevertheless, in order to ensure<br />a higher level of animal health&nbsp;protection, the EU goes beyond&nbsp;the OIE requirements and applies&nbsp;stricter standards. In the<br />current application of regionalisation&nbsp;in Lithuania, Poland&nbsp;and Latvia, for example, no pigs,&nbsp;their semen, embryos or ova are<br />allowed to be moved from the&nbsp;infected area.<br />At the same time, all Member&nbsp;States are asked to respect&nbsp;a new set of guidelines in the&nbsp;matter of biosecurity until 2021,&nbsp;when it will be revised, which&nbsp;indicates that the disease is expected&nbsp;to stay for quite a long&nbsp;period in this part of the world.</p> <p><strong>The Chinese&nbsp;blockade</strong></p> <p>20 outbreaks have been reported&nbsp;in less than 45 days in&nbsp;China and, besides culling thousands&nbsp;of pigs, the authorities&nbsp;have decided to institute restrictions&nbsp;on animal transportation&nbsp;not only in the seven provinces&nbsp;where the cases have been reported<br />but also in other 11 provinces&nbsp;adjacent to those.<br />These growing and more&nbsp;frequent reports are affecting&nbsp;producer&rsquo;s actions and also&nbsp;market conditions. We are being&nbsp;told that many farms are locking&nbsp;down and not allowing their&nbsp;people out nor outside people&nbsp;in. Bio-security has long been a challenge in China and now owners&nbsp;and managers are taking unprecedented&nbsp;steps to protect&nbsp;their facilities from contracting&nbsp;this devastating disease.&nbsp;<br />Who knows how long farm workers will be content under&nbsp;these lockdown conditions, but&nbsp;many farms are now providing&nbsp;housing, cafeteria, laundry and&nbsp;even barbershop services for&nbsp;their workers. Many farms are&nbsp;becoming almost like small communities<br />with all the comforts&nbsp;of home and even recreational&nbsp;facilities. So they may be able to&nbsp;withstand these conditions for&nbsp;some time.<br />However, local markets are&nbsp;reported to be very volatile as no&nbsp;pigs can ship to a native province&nbsp;from any of the provinces infected<br />with ASF. Nor can pigs be&nbsp;transported from the province&nbsp;of the neighbour of the infected&nbsp;province. That had caused a big&nbsp;variance on hog price from the&nbsp;province to province&raquo;, reported&nbsp;Lyle Jones, Genesus Director of&nbsp;Sales in China, at the end of September.<br />During the next few months,&nbsp;China could be confronted with&nbsp;a supply gap of 2 million to 3 million&nbsp;tonnes of pork, according to<br />a Rabobank analysis and based&nbsp;on the known facts reported by&nbsp;Chinese authorities.&nbsp;The worst-case&nbsp;scenario&nbsp;China hosts more than 400&nbsp;million pigs and that represents&nbsp;55% of the global herd. Of those&nbsp;animals, the backyard pigs are&nbsp;a major part of China&rsquo;s production&nbsp;- maybe 6-10 million sows, a&nbsp;fact that raises concern over the&nbsp;capability of containing the disease&nbsp;in the areas where it was&nbsp;reported.<br />One of the worst-case scenarios&nbsp;comes from a North-American group of analysts and&nbsp;it could be the &bdquo;wake up call&rdquo; for&nbsp;the global industry.</p> <p>Allan Bentley, a Genesus Sales representative for North America, is skeptical regarding the number of outbreaks reported by Chinese authorities by now and, considering the high density of pig farms in the country, that could really be bad news.<br />&ldquo;After the first case was reported, I surmised there would be more cases reported very quickly. I believe China has reported 18 cases, so if they are<br />admitting to that I would guess it is closer to 180 cases. These cases are spread over a 2,000 km area and millions of swine in between each unit that reported an outbreak. The dense population of swine in China leads me<br />to the conclusion they will never get rid of this disease,&rdquo; explains<br />Bentley.<br />At the same time, an uncontained spreading of the virus in South Asia could have effects on the global pig market and even reconsider the position of Beijing regarding the trade dispute with the US. &ldquo;We all know the numbers involved with China&rsquo;s hog production and their appetite for pork. If they want to feed their people, I would think they would want to get the trade<br />dispute with President Trump resolved quickly,&rdquo; added Allan Bentley.<br />His opinion is also shared by Dr RC Ebert, Pleasant Hill Animal Clinic. &ldquo;Can China and the other SE Asia countries control ASF? Their biosecurity is questionable. What effects will a decline in their production have on our markets? These and other questions remain to a be seen,&rdquo; said the veterinarian.</p> <p><strong>Spaniards&nbsp;are terrified</strong></p> <p>The Belgium cases of ASF discovered&nbsp;in wild boar population&nbsp;has put Spain in the state of alert&nbsp;even if there are almost 1,000<br />km between the two countries.&nbsp;Recently, UPA, the Spanish&nbsp;Union of Small Farmers,&nbsp;has urged the government to&nbsp;adopt five stricter measures in&nbsp;its strategy against ASF entering&nbsp;the country.<br />As rumours about new cases&nbsp;reported in Italy have appeared,&nbsp;the agrarian organization has&nbsp;asked the Ministry of Agriculture&nbsp;to take five measures against&nbsp;swine fever, starting by banning&nbsp;the entry of wild boars in Spain.&nbsp;&ldquo;It is unheard of animals being imported&nbsp;when, precisely, the last&nbsp;outbreaks of this disease have&nbsp;been detected in these animals&nbsp;that, paradoxically, are growing<br />in numbers uncontrollably until&nbsp;they become a pest in many&nbsp;rural areas of Spain,&rdquo; complains&nbsp;UPA through the voice of its livestock<br />secretary, Roman Santalla.<br />Other four measures are seen as&nbsp;necessary to be adopted urgent,&nbsp;as mentioned in the letter sent&nbsp;to the Secretary-General of the<br />Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries&nbsp;and Food, Fernando Miranda.&nbsp;One of those, the control of piglets&nbsp;imports, has already been<br />applied in Catalonia and UPA&nbsp;believes that it should be extended&nbsp;through all the provinces&nbsp;of Spain. The organization has<br />also requested that all biosafety&nbsp;measures be extended to vehicles&nbsp;involved in the transport of&nbsp;animals, &ldquo;as it is known that it is<br />one of the most frequent routes&nbsp;for the spread of diseases in livestock,&rdquo;&nbsp;they have assured from&nbsp;UPA.<br />Fourth, the farmers have&nbsp;proposed that the Ministry create&nbsp;a Coordination Table with&nbsp;the Autonomous Communities&nbsp;and the entire sector. &ldquo;The goal&nbsp;has to be to point out and share&nbsp;all the news and actions related&nbsp;to African swine fever,&rdquo; said Santalla.<br />Finally, UPA proposes that&nbsp;the breeders should maximize&nbsp;each and every one of the measures&nbsp;of biosecurity in the farms,&nbsp;in order to avoid a possible external&nbsp;contagion.</p> <p>Recently, the disease has begun to expand alarmingly acrossEurope, with the latest cases (unconfirmed yet) appearing in Italy. Spain has been confronted&nbsp;with ASF outbreaks almost 30 years ago and the losses for the sector were significant.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-22 06:59:21  2025-08-06 02:51:13  Details Edit Delete
2078  A cliff-edge Brexit scenario would result in the loss of 32,000 jobs in the EU livestock sector    <p><strong>EuroMeatNews: There is talk at&nbsp;the EU level of negotiations&nbsp;regarding the redistribution&nbsp;quotas for hormonefree&nbsp;beef imported in the&nbsp;European countries in&nbsp;favour of the USA. How&nbsp;do you think other EU&nbsp;beef suppliers will react in&nbsp;case the outcome of these&nbsp;</strong><strong>negotiations will be to split&nbsp;the quotas into two (one&nbsp;entirely allocated to the&nbsp;USA and another for all&nbsp;other supplying countries)?&nbsp;</strong><strong>How would this redistribution&nbsp;affect EU&rsquo;s current&nbsp;trade flow?</strong><br />Jean-Luc M&eacute;riaux: The TRQ is&nbsp;linked to a Memorandum of Understanding&nbsp;(MoU) that fixes the&nbsp;hormone dispute between the<br />EU and the USA on a sustainable&nbsp;basis and contributes to eliminating&nbsp;the tariff barriers to trade.<br />If the USA does not get satisfaction,&nbsp;it will repeal the MoU&nbsp;while the EU will repeal the TRQ.&nbsp;Therefore, the alternative for&nbsp;the other suppliers is either to&nbsp;maintain a trade flow thanks to&nbsp;the continuation of the MoU or&nbsp;to lose market opportunities.<br />If the quantities are reallocated,&nbsp;his will not impact the overall&nbsp;EU beef imports as the TRQ&nbsp;volumes will not be changed.</p> <p><strong>EMN: Another important trade&nbsp;deal that is waiting to take&nbsp;place is the EU-Mercosur&nbsp;trade agreement. When&nbsp;it comes down to beef,&nbsp;could the lower cost South&nbsp;American products hurt&nbsp;the competitiveness of&nbsp;EU-based products? What&nbsp;are the challenges for the&nbsp;EU beef industry if this deal&nbsp;goes through?</strong></p> <p>JLM: An EU/MERCOSUR deal will&nbsp;have an impact on the MERCOSUR&nbsp;market share in the beef sector.&nbsp;Already today, MERCOSUR is<br />the first beef supplier of the EU.&nbsp;Its market share amounts to&nbsp;around 74% of the EU total beef&nbsp;imports.<br />The deal will improve the&nbsp;Mercosur beef access to the EU&nbsp;thanks to a new TRQ. This will&nbsp;mean, on one hand, an increase&nbsp;of the Mercosur market share&nbsp;and, on the other hand, further&nbsp;competition for the EU beef production&nbsp;and, more especially, the<br />high quality beef production that&nbsp;is the market segment mainly&nbsp;targeted by MERCOSUR.</p> <p><strong>EMN: In recent months, anyone&nbsp;could observe that the&nbsp;negotiations between the&nbsp;UK and the EU tend to&nbsp;lean towards a hard-Brexit&nbsp;scenario. How would such&nbsp;a scenario affect EU&rsquo;s meat&nbsp;and livestock trade?&nbsp;</strong><br />JLM: A cliff-edge scenario would&nbsp;be a disaster for the EU meat&nbsp;market.&nbsp;A UECBV impact assessment&nbsp;demonstrates that the meat<br />trade from the EU to the UK will&nbsp;drop by 84% for beef and 48% for&nbsp;pork. As a consequence, the prices&nbsp;will fall by, respectively, 8.8%&nbsp;and 7.3% in a short-term and by&nbsp;5.5% and 4.6% in a long term.&nbsp;All in all, the price shock&nbsp;would reduce the value of the EU<br />production of beef by &euro;2.4 billion&nbsp;and of pork by over &euro;2.3 billion.&nbsp;This scenario would result in&nbsp;the loss of 32,000 jobs in the EU<br />livestock sector.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>EMN: After numerous cases of&nbsp;African swine fever reported&nbsp;in Eastern Europe,&nbsp;the disease has reached&nbsp;Belgium. How will a&nbsp; possible&nbsp;ASF spread to other&nbsp;countries affect trade&nbsp;flows? Is the EU prepared&nbsp;to deal with an ASF widespread?</strong></p> <p>JLM: Thanks to its experience and&nbsp;expertise, the EU is well prepared&nbsp;to manage, control and finally&nbsp;eradicate the African Swine Fever&nbsp;(ASF), even if it may be time-consuming.&nbsp;The disease appeared on the&nbsp;EU territory from the neighboring&nbsp;countries at the end of 2013.&nbsp;Ever since, the EU policy has&nbsp;succeeded in restricting the ASF&nbsp;to a limited number of regions&nbsp;while the ASF travelled over&nbsp;2,000 km in China in less than&nbsp;two months.&nbsp;In addition, in most of the affected&nbsp;Member States, the disease&nbsp;hit either mainly the wild&nbsp;boar population or solely the&nbsp;wild board population as in Belgium,&nbsp;Hungary and in the Czech&nbsp;Republic.<br />Furthermore, the success story&nbsp;in the Czech Republic is promising.&nbsp;Finally, the implementation&nbsp;of the regionalization principle<br />within the EU and the enforcement&nbsp;of the Single Market mitigate&nbsp;the trade impact and safeguard&nbsp;the trade flows from the&nbsp;ASF-free regions.<br />Unfortunately, several external&nbsp;trade partners of the EU do&nbsp;not comply with the OIE recommendations&nbsp;with regard to regionalization&nbsp;and the distinction&nbsp;between the ASF in wild animals&nbsp;and the ASF in domestic pigs.&nbsp;The EU Commission and the<br />Member States are quite active&nbsp;towards such recognition. Hopefully,&nbsp;their efforts will be successful&nbsp;shortly.</p> <p><strong>EMN: The Trump administration&nbsp;has imposed a series of&nbsp;taxes on imported meat&nbsp;from different countries,&nbsp;including China. How do&nbsp;</strong><strong>the US trade wars affect&nbsp;EU&rsquo;s meat trade?&nbsp;Some say that the US&nbsp;trade war with China&nbsp;could be an opportunity&nbsp;for the EU to export more&nbsp;meat. What is your take&nbsp;on this?</strong></p> <p>JLM: A trade war can only be a&nbsp;loss/loss process in the long term&nbsp;as it creates uncertainty and instability.&nbsp;For instance, because<br />of the Chinese tariffs on pork,&nbsp;the US meat industry partly displaced&nbsp;the volumes from China&nbsp;to other outlets where the competition&nbsp;increased.<br />Regarding China, the EU pork&nbsp;did not take advantage of the&nbsp;trade tension. From January until&nbsp;July 2018, the EU pork exports<br />to China were stable (+0.9%) as&nbsp;compared to the same period of&nbsp;2017, when EU exports dropped&nbsp;by 32%.<br />Then, in August and September,&nbsp;the Chinese market became&nbsp;unstable because of the ASF outbreak.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-22 07:19:08  2025-08-04 20:28:37  Details Edit Delete
2080  Hilton buys 50% stake in Dutch meat alternative manufacturer  Hilton Food Group has acquired a 50% stake in Dalco Food, a leading vegetarian product manufacturer based in Oss, the Netherlands, for an undisclosed sum.  <p>The company has also entered a joint venture agreement with Dalco's shareholders, which includes an option for the remaining 50% of Dalco's share in 2024.</p> <p>Hilton's new agreement enables it to expand its offering in the fast-growing&nbsp;vegetarian market.</p> <p>&ldquo;This agreement represents an exciting opportunity for Hilton to broaden its offering in a growing segment of the market and meet our customers&rsquo; demands for Hilton to supply them with a range of innovative, high quality vegetarian products. We look forward to seeing the positive effects of our tried and tested business model on this relationship, which will be supported by our flexible and versatile approach to meeting local requirements,&rdquo; said Hilton CEO Philip Heffer.</p> <p>Hilton Food Group plc is Europe&rsquo;s leading specialist international food packing company supplying major retailers including Tesco, Ahold, Coop Danmark, ICA and Sonae in Europe and Woolworths in Australia. Hilton had sales of &pound;1.4 billion in 2017 and employs around 4,300 people across its sites.</p> <p>Dalco Food B.V. was established by the Wagemakers family in 1975. Today Dalco develops and supplies vegetarian products to a broad range of customers worldwide from its two facilities located in the Netherlands. </p>  1    Industry 2018-10-22 09:36:12  2025-08-05 06:34:54  Details Edit Delete
2081  Portugal receives approval to export pork to South Korea and China  Portuguese producers will be able to export pork to the South Korean and Chinese markets, after the authorities have successfully closed trade agreements with these countries.  <p>After a long process of negotiations between Portugal and South Korea, 10 Portuguese companies have finally been allowed since 19 September to export pork to South Korea, as confirmed by local authorities at the Portuguese Embassy in the market.</p> <p>The Portuguese authorities see great potential in the South Korean market. The South Korean pork imports in 2017 reached 489,510 tonnes and by August 2018 they had already reached 389,135 tonnes.</p> <p>Furthermore, last week, the Portuguese Federation of Pig Industry Associations has announced that the country has reached an agreement with China to export pork. The association believes that with this new trade agreement, Portuguese pork exports will double in 2019 and will continue to increase, three years after the industry's biggest crisis, as reported by Confagri.</p> <p>"With China, which is the largest producer in the world and the largest importer and consumer of pork, the negotiations are almost complete and our expectation is that in the first quarter of 2019 it will be possible to start exporting to China," said David Neves, vice president FPAS.</p> <p>In a first phase, Portugal will export more than 1,000 tonnes of meat per year, around 15% of the production, and will double this amount in a second phase.</p> <p>"We are talking about exporting 200 million euro worth of pork per year to China, in the second phase, which will represent 25 to 30% of the national production," he added. Mr. Neves believes that the opening of this new market represents a strong stimulus for the expansion and growth of the swine sector in Portugal.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-22 10:18:41  2025-08-05 20:45:47  Details Edit Delete
2083  The French consumers want more ready-to-eat products and look for fast service    <p><strong>EuroMeatNews: How much beef did France produce so far this year? How are the&nbsp;volumes compared to previous years?</strong></p> <p><strong>Guy Hermouet:</strong> France is the European country with the largest number of cattle: 18.9 million head of cattle of which 4.04 million meat breed cows and 3.79 million of dairy breed cows. <br />France produced in 2017 1.5 million tonnes of beef. For 2018, the production is slightly increasing: +2%, because of the strong draught this summer that has reduced forage availability for the winter period and has brought more cattle to slaughter. <br />France also exported 1.6 million head of cattle in 2017, being the number one cattle exporter in Europe. Of this, more than 980,000 head of cattle are sent&nbsp;to Italy and more than 490,000 to Spain.</p> <p><strong>EMN: How much of France&rsquo;s meat production is exported? Which are the main export destinations?</strong></p> <p><strong>GH:</strong> 15% of our national production is exported, which represents 222,000 tonnes in 2017. This export volume has been stable for several years.<br />France exports around 43,000 tons of beef offals around the planet, an extra source of income for French companies.<br />Our main market remains the European Union, which accounts for 93% of our exports (mainly to Italy &ndash; 74,000 tonnes; Greece &ndash; 44, 000 tonnes and Germany &ndash; 42, 000 tonnes).<br />Third Countries represent 15,000 tonnes in 2017. This percentage is small but it is increasing rapidly every year. Between 2013 and 2017, our exports to&nbsp;Third countries have increased by around 10% each year. Main Third Country clients are Hong Kong, Isra&euml;l, Turkey, Algeria, and Tunisia.</p> <p><strong>EMN: What can you tell us about French consumer trends in the last couple of years? How is the domestic meat consumption compared to other EU countries?</strong></p> <p><strong>GH:</strong> In France, like in other European countries, the meat consumption is in fast change. The French want to eat more ready-to-eat products and look for fast service.<br />This has some consequences on the meat sector, which is compelled to take into account new retail forms: for example, the drives or smaller shops, closer to the housing areas. It also has consequences on the style of meat&nbsp;eaten: burgers, tartares, carpaccios, nibbling pieces of meat for aperitif.<br />Finally, consumers are now interested in the production conditions of their food. Our meat sector is aware of this and will be taking into account, even more, the environmental, welfare and consumer health aspects. Concerning the beef consumption data, France&rsquo;s consumption has a slow tendency to decrease (- 1,7% in 2017) but since the beginning of the year 2018, the tendency is to increase slightly: +2,3%. The following chart shows meat consumption evolution in Europe from 2005 to 2017.</p> <p><strong>EMN: How much beef did France import in the first half of 2018 compared with the similar period from 2017? Which were the main suppliers?</strong></p> <p><strong>GH:</strong> From January to July 2018, France imported 191,500 tonnes of beef, compared to 2017 (same period): 185,000 tonnes, which means an increase in imports of +3,6%: the restaurants have been selling more beef based meals<br />(burgers, steaks). The main countries from which we import are: the Netherlands for beef and veal meat, much appreciated in France<br />(46,000 tonnes, +3%), Germany mainly adult cow meat, which is red meat (34,000 tonnes, +4%), Ireland (32,000 tonnes, +1,3%) and Poland in 4th rank (20,500 tonnes). We import very small quantities of beef meat from Third Countries (only 5,500 tonnes since the beginning of the year, of that 1,600<br />tonnes are from Switzerland).</p> <p><strong>EMN: What new markets is the French meat industry targeting?</strong><br />GH: The French meat industry has been working closely for a long time with its first clients in three European countries: Italy, Germany, and Greece.<br />Due to historical context, the French meat industry is also very close to North African countries like Algeria and Tunisia. In the last two years, the industry has started to target the Israeli market as the Israeli authorities&nbsp;wish to increase the European quota for fresh meat from 10,000 to 12,500 tonnes this year and will be increasing it up to 18,500 tonnes. This is a real opportunity for French beef and INTERBEV has started in 2018 a new European communication campaign with the help of European funds.<br />Also, since 2017, the French industry wishes to develop its sales in Asian countries. French companies have started to collaborate closely with Hong Kong importers and to develop their sales in this country (5,000 tonnes of beef and offals in 2017). In order to help business, INTERBEV has a strong&nbsp;communication plan now in Hong Kong around &ldquo;French Beef a Taste of Terroirs&rdquo; (targeting professionals, importers, local chefs and, since September 2018, final consumers with a French beef festival in restaurants and supermarkets).</p> <p><strong>EMN: Are French meat producers taking any steps to reduce the usage of plastic in packaging for their products?</strong><br /><strong>GH:</strong> The French meat and cattle Industry is globally committed in a process to improve every day the sustainability of its production through improvement of nutrition facts, environmental impact (i.e.: decrease of GHG production of cattle farms through the Life Beef Carbon European Program, regular discussions with French environment NGOs but also innovation in packaging) animal welfare (regular discussions with French welfare NGOs, guidance of good practices already used and new ones in process). Our global sustainable production framework is called PACTE (Pacte pour un Engagement Societal) in which<br />we promote the following values within our industry: Progress; Future; Discussions with NGOs and civil society; ransparency; Expertise.<br />INTERBEV has received in June 2018 the level 3 (out of 4) of RSO (Sustainable Development of Organizations) norm also called ISO 26000.<br />EMN: What is INTERBEV&rsquo;s strategy to support the meat industry? <br />GH: A year ago, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, asked agribusiness interprofessional associations to establish ambitious plans to implement future strategies specific to each sector. Since then INTERBEV Bovins went into operation to establish and to put into action a sector plan focusing on the upscaling of the offer from the beef meat herd to ensure the<br />consumer:<br />&bull; The quality of the product when tasting it; <br />&bull; The superior societal qualities (environment, animal welfare and nutritional quality); <br />The fair prices for the breeders. Prices have to take into account production costs. The goal is to achieve 40% of<br />the offer in &ldquo;Label Rouge&rdquo; quality Label within 5 years.<br />On export aspects, it is important to increase France&rsquo;s exports of meat in Europe and Third Countries. In Europe, we have<br />collective brands such as Charoluxe (in Germany) and Bovillage (in Greece) that are carried out by French companies and that are supported by INTERBEV to keep up the good image of French meat amongst meat buyers. New campaigns will be set up in Italy, Germany, and Greece in 2019 in order to better address the European market which is more and more concerned about transparency, cattle production, environment and animal welfare.<br />In Third Countries, INTERBEV&rsquo;s actions are numerous:<br />&bull; Helping French Government to negotiate the access to new markets : sanitary negotiations;&nbsp;<br />&bull; Giving French companies an overview of different markets: market studies and reports;<br />&bull; Helping French companies to develop their business abroad: organization of professional events and BtoB meeting;<br />&bull; Promoting the new identity for French Beef &ldquo;French Beef, a Taste of Terroirs&rdquo;, with promotional plans in China, Hong Kong&nbsp;and Japan.<br />A communication plan supported by the EU: &ldquo;Taste the Best, European beef&rdquo;, set up by INTERBEV for 3 years in Algeria and Israel.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-23 06:41:41  2025-08-06 04:16:33  Details Edit Delete
2084  French consumers are paying attention to the quality of fish  Clean water is the main criterion for the French consumer when it has to put a quality label on the fish that lands on its dinner plate. Balanced eed, good fish welfare, natural feed and wild caught are the following criteria that make the fish a desirable food for the French people, according to a study released by the Norwegian Seafood Council.  <p>At this time, 32% of the French are trying to increase the fish consumption in their diet and 41% declared that they are looking for fish if they need to replace meat in their menu. Other options to replace meat are referring to vegetables (27%), beans and legumes (16%), vegan or vegetarian meat substitutes (7%), carbohydrates such as pasta or bread (6%), while 2% are still expecting new alternatives.<br />Based on this data, at least 21 million people in France are looking to increase their seafood consumption. That would lead to an upturn of 5 to 20% in the value the French seafood market if the consumers are going to eat seafood at least once a week. It also could deliver a supplementary 252 million portions of fish&amp;seafood sold each year in this market, says the study. <br />Healthy and sustainable food choices are trends that are already present in the French market and are seen as very important by 43% of the respondents and considered to be &ldquo;quite important&rdquo; by other 35% The internet era is offering new opportunities for the French consumer to choose the seafood&nbsp;he desires, but there are still gaps in terms of information related to the production methods for the fish available on the domestic market, and that refers to online channels of distribution as well for the offline market.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-23 06:47:59  2025-08-06 04:46:13  Details Edit Delete
2085  Maple Leaf Foods has closed its acquisition of Cericola Farms  Maple Leaf Foods has closed its acquisition of two poultry plants and associated supply from Cericola Farms, a privately held company.  <p>The facilities are located in Bradford, Ontario and Drummondville, Quebec and have a collectively&nbsp;process approximately 32 million kg of chicken annually.</p> <p>The company says that this acquisition provides it additional supply and value-added processing capability to advance its leadership in higher value categories.</p> <p>The transaction was financed from a combination of cash-on-hand and drawings under the existing credit facility. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Maple Leaf's earnings in 2018.</p> <p>Maple Leaf has also secured 100% of the processed chicken volume from Cericola's primary processing plant located in Schomberg, Ontario, and holds an option to acquire this asset and associated plant supply in three years.</p> <p>Cericola specializes in air-chilled processing of antibiotic free and animal by-product free ("AABF") and organic poultry products.</p> <p>Maple Leaf Foods has transitioned most of its flagship Maple Leaf Prime chicken brand to Prime RWA, where the Canadian market is growing at approximately 25% annually. Chicken is the most consumed and fastest growing meat protein segment in North America.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-23 10:25:32  2025-08-06 05:09:38  Details Edit Delete
2086  US restricts pigmeat imports from Poland  US authorities have announced the suspension of pork imports from Poland due to the outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) reported in the country.  <p>The United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has suspended the imports of fresh and frozen pork and pork products from Poland. APHIS is also concerned about Poland's export protocols, which it is currently reviewing.</p> <p>&ldquo;As part of a routine review of ongoing operations, it came to our attention that one Polish facility exporting pork to the U.S. has done so in contravention of the stringent requirements in place to prevent the spread of serious diseases of livestock, like ASF,&rdquo; the APHIS statement read.</p> <p>The measures taken by the American authorities were taken out of caution to ensure the disease will not reach the North-American continent.</p> <p>"We are also reviewing the protocols for a second Polish facility at this time. In order to give us time to ensure all Polish facilities that export pork and pork products to the U.S. are acting in accordance with our import requirements, we have suspended entry for all fresh and frozen pork from Poland until our review is completed,&rdquo; APHIS added.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-23 11:28:00  2025-08-05 14:28:23  Details Edit Delete
2088  Creekstone invests $35 million in a new distribution center  Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a subsidiary of Marubeni Corp., plans to invest $35 million in a new refrigerated distribution center at its plant in Arkansas City, Kansas.  <p>The new facility will have a total of 41,334 square feet, consisting of a 35,311-square-foot main floor footprint and 6,023-square-foot mezzanine area, and will include an automated storage and retrieval system capable of handling 27,000 boxes in a nine-hour day with more than 37,000 box storage locations.</p> <p>&ldquo;This new distribution center will help our company manage our expanding business and ensure that we continue to meet our customers&rsquo; service level expectations,&rdquo; commented Kazunobu Nomura, Creekstone President and CEO. Mr. Nomura continued, &ldquo;This major investment by the Marubeni Group shows the commitment that Creekstone&rsquo;s parent company has in Creekstone Farms, its employees and customers. We are very excited to get this project completed as it will be a catalyst allowing for growth to meet our customer demands.&rdquo;</p> <p>The new distribution center is expected to be fully operational by the fall of 2019.</p> <p>Creekstone Farms was acquired by the Japanese company Marubeni last year in July. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC is USDA-certified by the Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) and supplies many of the nation&rsquo;s top grocers and restaurants with a variety of high-quality meat products, including Black Angus Beef, Antibiotic-Free Duroc Pork and its value-added products. The company exports its premium-quality products to Europe, Latin America and Asia, and is owned by the Marubeni Group.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-23 14:44:21  2025-08-04 04:35:15  Details Edit Delete
2090  Times of war for the meat industry  The global meat market is reshaping at a fast pace due to new events that took place this year and companies are trying to keep up with this, while also responding to customer preferences and demands.  <p>For the meat industry, war is present on every front, from the political differences regarding trade between the US and almost everyone else to the environmental issues that pressure the producers, the &ldquo;animal-terrorism&rdquo; cases registered in France and Spain or the development of alternative&nbsp;meat products that are going to hit the market in the following years.</p> <p><strong>The US against the world</strong></p> <p>The protectionist measures that define the current policy of the US administration are turning into a disruptive element for the<br />food companies from the United States, China, the EU, Canada, and Mexico involved in trade between these regions.<br />Tariffs as retaliatory measures have been applied by each side involved in the trade war started by president Trump. US pork products, as an example, is&nbsp;one the most affected items in the retaliation game, with tariffs ranging from 10% to 68% in case of products sent to China.<br />Beef and poultry or seafood products are also affected by these measures and the dimension of future exchange of goods between the parts involved in&nbsp;these trade wars is uncertain, even in the light of the new US - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA). The document still needs to be ratified and approved by the three countries. Meanwhile, the US is looking for new markets to deliver its meat, South Korea and Japan being two important destinations&nbsp;for beef and pork. At this time, thanks to the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORU S), the first signed under the Trump administration, US beef has a market share of 58%, + 8% compared to the same period last year. The biggest competitor in the Korean market is Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Korea&rsquo;s Country Manager, Charlie Ko, described the local market as a&nbsp;tough competitive environment, especially in the imported chilled beef sector. <br />&ldquo;The US now occupies 58% of market share (September 2017 to August 2018) &ndash; up 8% points from the same time last year. However, consumer and trade support for Australian beef remains strong,&rdquo; Charlie said.<br />Europe looks also attractive and a new round of negotiations between Brussels and Washington could offer a better deal in delivering a larger quota of hormone- free beef.<br />Nevertheless, that could start a new conflict between European beef producers and the European Commission. For now, the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF)&nbsp;has expressed its hopes on reaching a double value of beef exports to the EU, growing from $200 million to $400 million in the following years.<br />As for the Chinese market, the beef segment has been quickly replaced by imports from Australia, Argentine and Uruguay, while pork is sourced from different countries that don&rsquo;t pose (for now) any biosecurity risk.<br />Anyway, pork demand and consumption in China is another problem that raises questions in the near future as the ASF outbreaks in China, Africa and Europecould either restore the original tariffs applied for US pork products or it can push the consumers to other animal protein alternatives, such as seafood, beef, sheep or poultry.</p> <p><strong>Eating, quitting, looking for new</strong></p> <p>Meat consumption is expected to grow in the next decade due to an increase in population and that raises a question about the production sustainability and food sufficiency in different regions across the globe.<br />New trends appeared in the global market offering alternatives for meat and the results are starting to be observed in the statistics. Also, in Asia, where China and India are expecting a high rate of population growth, the outlook predicts an increase in value for these markets thanks to the&nbsp;added value of the products and not strictly by the volumes. Right now, the Indian meat market is estimated to be at $31 billion, but it could reach a value of $65 billion until 2022 if a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20% is to be maintained all this time. 72% oh the inhabitants have non-vegetarian dietary habits and the numbers are much higher in the south part of the country.<br />In China, consumption trends are changing in the big cities due to the launch of plant-based protein and to the vegan and vegetarian trends introduced in this market.<br />In the US, at least a third of the millennials have turned into vegans and vegetarians and 60% of the population with age under 50 prefers a mixed diet.<br />Also, in France, during the last decade, meat consumption has decreased by 12%. Germany, a country that has a long history with meat dietary habits, is turning slowly to a mixed menu embraced by the locals.<br />Denmark has a certain spot on the world&rsquo;s map of meat consumption with an initiative meant to help those who want to change their diets. &bdquo;Quit meat&rdquo; helpline is the world&rsquo;s first hotline that encourages people to give up meat.<br />It is financed by Simple Feast, a vegan meal delivery service, and, of course, it also helps to promote vegan products.<br />Last statistical data shows that Danish people are consuming around 100 kilograms of meat each year.</p> <p><strong>A proxy-war on meat</strong></p> <p>From the consumer&rsquo;s point of view, information regarding the risk associated with meat consumption can be confusing, the internet is looking more like a battlefield in a proxy-war filled with fake news.<br />The phenomenon is not ignored by the industry and different actions have been taken, from using anthropology as an example of benefits of meat consumption&nbsp;in the evolution of humanity to banning or requesting the ban of the &ldquo;meat&rdquo; label applied for alternative products.<br />It&rsquo;s not only the internet that looks like a battlefield, small facilities&nbsp;in the Spanish meat industry or butcher shops in France being targeted by a new sort of radical militants.<br />A series of attacks reported in France and Spain have set off reactions from the industry&nbsp;bodies in both countries. The<br />number of shops targeted with&nbsp;graffiti or smashed windows in&nbsp;France has reached 50, according&nbsp;to Confederation Francaise de la<br />Boucherie, Boucherie-Charcuterie,&nbsp;Traiteurs (CFBCT).&nbsp;While in France, vandalism&nbsp;seems to be the resort of vegan&nbsp; activists, Spain has encountered&nbsp;a different type of violence, arson.&nbsp;The attacks were revendicated&nbsp;by the Animal Liberation Front&nbsp;and are part of what investigators&nbsp;now call &bdquo;animal terrorism&rdquo;.&nbsp;&bdquo;We are concern about the damage&nbsp;that these events may cause&nbsp;in companies in the sector. It is&nbsp;not an isolated event since in recent&nbsp;days the organization has&nbsp;shown the intention to attack&nbsp;companies engaged in the marketing&nbsp;of meat products in the&nbsp;region&rdquo;, president of the Asturian&nbsp;Association of Meat Industries&nbsp;(ASINCAR), Cesar Garc&iacute;a, declared.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-24 06:53:17  2025-08-06 05:59:33  Details Edit Delete
2091  AHDB to discuss antibiotic challenge with the UK pig farmers    <p>The meetings will take place between 5&ndash;26 November in Berkshire, Norfolk, West Yorkshire and Devon. The discussion will focus on the&nbsp;challenges and solutions of in-water medication, with Nigel Penlington from AHDB and Mark Jagger from BQP, looking at the realities of moving to this kind of system.&nbsp;They will also look at current water systems and the need to provide good clean water.</p> <p>AHDB says the meetings will also include&nbsp;a session led by Dr Georgina Crayford and Ed Barker, from the National Pig Association, to run through the industry&rsquo;s response to antibiotics and next steps to meeting reduction targets.</p> <p>Dr Charlotte Evans from ForFarmers and Dr Mandy Nevel from AHDB will lead sessions looking at how nutrition can play a significant role in reducing the need to medicate with antibiotics. They will be presenting examples of what works and what doesn&rsquo;t, and learning from other farms about maintaining good animal health and welfare.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-24 10:24:23  2025-08-06 02:57:04  Details Edit Delete
2093  EU beef exports expected to be 8% lower in 2018  The European Union's beef exports are expected to decrease by 8% compared with 2017, thus returning to the 2016 level, according to the recent EU Agricultural short-term outlook.  <p>EU beef exports are forecast to slightly recover in 2019 (-2%). The EU member states will export more low-value cuts and will increase shipments to smaller market and gain access again to certain (niche) markets.</p> <p>The report says that this year there is reduce potentatial for expansion, "inter alia in Turkey, where much will depend on the economic situation."</p> <p>Key world players, such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, are exporting more to traditional EU export markets (Hong Kong, Israel, Switzerland and the Philippines) and are expected to continue putting pressure on the world market by the end of this year.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-24 12:00:18  2025-08-06 05:07:31  Details Edit Delete
2094  Region in Southern China hit by ASF outbreak  Chinese authorities have confirmed another case of African Swine Fever (ASF), this time in Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province.  <p>The virus has now spread for the first time to the south of the country. There were two cases reported in the province of Yunnan on Sunday, while the latest outbreaks took place in two small farms in Zhaotong, a city in the northeast of Yunnan. Another outbreak was also reported in the province of Zhejiang, as reported by Reuters.</p> <p>There were 545 pigs that died in the farms from Zhaotong after the disease was confirmed and, according to local media, and another 7,000 pigs were culled in the area around the farm in order to prevent the spreading of the virus.</p> <p>Until recently outbreaks of ASF were only reported in the north and east of the country. The latest case reported now in the south represents the 42nd.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-24 15:16:28  2025-08-05 21:49:24  Details Edit Delete
2095  Brexit is here! Uncertainties remain    <p>Brexit is almost here but the uncertainties related to food trade, especially meat, and the evolution of local businesses still hangs over the whole sector. Food sufficiency may be more of a wishful thinking and any scenario including a severe disruption in trade between the two parts is likely to have a certain impact for the small and medium enterprises, regardless of the sector that they are coming from: food-service, producers, retailers.</p> <p>Despite the fact that the UK is taking pride in being one of the important players in the European meat industry, it is also heavily dependent on certain types of foods imported from the EU member states.</p> <p><strong>Special needs</strong></p> <p>Regarding the volume of animal protein production, Great Britain may look good but, in reality, domestic consumption is mostly based on products that&nbsp;are imported at a large rate. The consumer&rsquo;s preferences for certain products originated elsewhere can be observed on hypermarkets shelves, on the street-food chain of distribution, in big cities restaurants or on online channels of sales.<br />The British dietary style is a mix of some old popular recipes, fusion cuisine, innovative foods and international cuisine and it is translated into high volumes of food imports. Despite being one of the greatest poultry producers in Europe, Great Britain maintains the role of a major importer of poultry products from other EU countries (the Netherlands, Poland, Germany,<br />Ireland etc) but also from Brazil, Chile, Argentina or Thailand, as revealed in an analysis released by International Meat Trade Association.<br />&ldquo;The vast majority of poultry meat imported into the UK, be it raw, salted or cooked, is either whole chicken, breast or made of chicken breast&rdquo;, the analysis mentions.<br />In 2015, the volume of frozen/chilled poultry imports from the EU countries was of 386,000 tonnes, while non-EU imports reach 23,000. Also, salted poultry imports in that year accounted for 112,000 tonnes, while processed poultry imports were at 504,000 tonnes, with EU imports accounting for<br />330,000 tonnes of it.<br />Just by using this example and the preference of British consumers for the chicken breast, the domestic production should more than double its volume (1,1 additional birds; +124%) to secure the demand for chicken breast and also to find markets for the distribution of 75% of the remaining carcasses.<br />Poultry is just a singular example, while the situation is also present in beef, sheep or pork sectors of the industry, with burgers served on the streets of London or Liverpool coming from Ireland, or other meat cooked in restaurants or at home originating from different countries across the globe.</p> <p><strong>Fishy situation</strong></p> <p>A similar situation is present in the UK fish&amp;seafood market, domestic consumption being based mainly on imported fis&amp;seafood products while the&nbsp;catch is usually exported. <br />&bdquo;Mackerel, langoustine, and scallops are the top three species caught in British waters by British vessels, but they don&rsquo;t have a market in the UK. These species are exported, predominantly to the EU. On the other hand, cod, haddock, pollock, as well as shrimp and prawns are the species favoured most&nbsp;by British consumers &ndash; yet they are largely imported,&rdquo; explained Beyhan de Jong, Associate Analyst - Animal Protein, Rabobank.<br />Top three suppliers for the British seafood market are the EU (30%), non-EU Western European countries (Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland totalling 20%&nbsp;of the imports), and Asia and Oceania (25%). Even the salmon produced in the UK doesn&rsquo;t have more than 33% share on the domestic market (50,000 tonnes).<br />Without a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and the EU, tariffs imposed by the World Trade Organization from 2021 could run from 2% to 20% impairing&nbsp;the fisheries sector in Great Britain by reducing the demand for British fish&amp;seafood on the European single market. On the other hand, EU producers can find other markets to export their items.</p> <p><strong>A six-months resilience test</strong></p> <p>For now, all the signals indicate that the two parts engaged in &bdquo;the divorce&rdquo; are heading for a no-deal Brexit, a situation that will block the agricultural products from the UK to reach the EU single market between April and October next year.<br />At the same time, the British government announced that food security issues request that food imports from the bloc will&nbsp;be allowed to enter the country creating a downward pressure on prices and hurting the domestic producers.<br />Practically, in that scenario, that period will be a real resilience test for any enterprise in the Kingdom, the survival of the fittest being the only rule taking in consideration. Of high vulnerability are the farms in Wales and Scotland, very much dependable on the export of lamb to the EU market but also other businesses in the meat industry. <br />For now, the National Sheep Association (NSA), the British Poultry Council (BPC) and the National Farmers Union (NFU)&nbsp;warned that the country is not prepared to take such a serious hit as a hard-Brexit, with the latest raising the problem of UK&rsquo;s food insufficiency.<br />According to official data, Great Britain&rsquo;s rate of self-sufficiency in food has dropped from 74% in 1987 to 60% last year.<br />&bdquo;Home-grown food production must have the unwavering support of Government if we are to achieve this post-Brexit&rdquo;, says&nbsp;NFU President Minette Batters, who also warns that the country can survive on its own food for only 7 months and one week.<br />A similar vision is shared by Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive. &ldquo;It would be highly damaging to the UK sheep sector&nbsp;if we ease the flow of imports, something the Government has suggested it would do to keep our manufacturing going, at the&nbsp;same time as the EU delays the approval of products destined for its side of the Channel. If we lose access for UK&nbsp;sheepmeat, even for a few months, and still allow imported lamb to come in, then our markets will quickly become flooded and prices will plummet, with farmers feeling the brunt of it&rdquo;, he said. In his opinion, opening new markets on short&nbsp;notice for UK sheep and lamb is &rdquo;unrealistic&rdquo;.</p> <p><strong>Consequences on both sides</strong></p> <p>No-deal Brexit will have consequences on both sides, as a former EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries observed in a comment for BBC. Welsh farmers are to suffer the most in the UK, predicts Franz Fischler, mentioning that 30% of the Welsh lamb and 13% of the beef are exported in the EU market. The only solution, in&nbsp;his opinion, is the public support for the local products.<br />At the same time, with the leave of Great Britain, a gap is created in the EU budget for Agriculture and that is to be felt by all 27 Member States. Reform of farm subsidies within the EU is to be expected, with direct payments to farmers likely to be cut, as the bloc is approaching a new policy of rewarding farmers for delivering public goods, such as environmental projects. A recent financial support for the Welsh farmers came from the EU (&euro; 3.5 million) to prepare the food, farming and fisheries industries for Brexit, including with branding.</p> <p><strong>In search of new FTA&rsquo;s</strong></p> <p>New Free Trade Agreements will be necessary for the British meat, poultry and seafood sectors as the departure from the<br />EU will change the rules of the game. For the livestock sector, the economic sustainability requires the maintenance of its access to other EU markets, where its key customers lie, to be a priority, mentions the IMTA analysis. On the other hand, imports are fueling sectors such as retail, foodservice and manufacturing by supplementing those parts of the carcase in deficit. &ldquo;A substantial part of those supplies come from other countries in the EU, but imports from non-EU countries are critical, particularly for our foodservice and tourist industries. One of the greatest challenges will be to ensure<br />these supplies are not disrupted. Unlike many other foods the EU schedule of duties for meat have been set so high that the only way to import has been via a plethora of concessionary import quotas, thus simply adopting EU tariffs will not be a solution. Uncertainty at the moment faces this sector as the WTO rules covering the exiting of a country from a trading bloc are unclear,&rdquo; it is mentioned in the IMTA document.</p>  1    Industry 2018-10-25 06:42:16  2025-08-06 06:52:53  Details Edit Delete
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