Dear readers,

       Some good news from the industry:

• The French authorities started a new communication campaign focusing on supporters, tourists and other people travelling to and from Germany but also other ASF infected countries. They are being asked not to bring pork products with them and also not to depose any food rests in nature but to put those in closed bins. That message is particularly targeted at international lorry drivers, foreign season workers in agriculture and horticulture and hikers. The campaign will continue during the Olimpic games.
• Genesus, Canada’s sole swine genetic company, announces a strategic restructuring in response to industry consolidation and increased investment needs. Canada ZF Investments will acquire Genesus and its subsidiaries, forming Genesus Genetic Technologies to operate globally.
• Spain’s leading pig stock exchange board, Mercolleida, approved in the board of directors that it will present itself with a local partner in the tender that will be opened soon to create a price board for the pork market in Costa Rica .

Events calendar:

• The „AnimaEx„, a central part of the „Agri Intex” trade fair, is the leading trade show for the agriculture and animal husbandry industries, held annually at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore, India. The AnimaEx will take place on 5 days from Thursday, 11. July to Monday, 15. July 2024.

Arts and crafts:

• The world’s oldest known picture story is a 51200 years old cave painting found at Leang Karampuang cave on the east Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The recently discovered painting is of three therianthropes – or human-animal hybrids – and a wild pig. Do we need more proof of the long tradition of eating pork?!

Crazy

The problems continue for the Vion group: the Dutch Veterinary Authority  has temporarily suspended the recognition of slaughterhouse Vion Boxtel to export to a number of export markets outside the EU, mainly Asia. Speaking about Asia: the decline in China’s sow inventory is 6.9% year-on-year, as reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In this context, the recently announced investigation into the dumping prices of pork from Europe sounds more like a strategic move, preparing a negotiation for better prices. China will become a significant pork importer again.

Costa Rica-s approach to create a swine price board is an interesting example for the East of Europe. there are about 14,600 pig farms in Costa Rica, with about 400,000 pigs. Of these ranches, over 82% are small farms with fewer than ten pigs; the rest are larger-scale farms, which produce 80% of the country’s pork.

Meanwhile, there are more important things to focus on in the German meat market…

The International Döner Kebab Federation in Istanbul has filed an application aiming to both recognize döner as a Turkish product and protect its production standards. The application is undergoing a three-month appeal process before a final decision is made. If accepted, döner kebab will receive the same protection as Austria’s Tiroler Speck, the Haloumi cheese from Cyprus or the champagne from France. Subsequently,  only kebabs meeting specific criteria could be labeled as döner, and non-compliance could result in fines or imprisonment.

But do not forget that Mr. Cem Özdemir is the Agriculture Minister of Germany!  And he is vegan, but muslim! So Germany has raised objections, emphasizing the döner’s significant cultural significance in the country. While the meal has been brought to Germany by Turkish expatriates, it has become immensely popular, with a third of Germans reportedly eating döner at least once a month. Apparently, many people in Germany view Türkiye’s move as an attack on their cultural identity. Things are going really crazy!