Dear readers,
Piglet prices are rising, and we have also some other good developments from our industry:
- Ceva Animal Health (Ceva) – the world’s fifth largest animal health group with a presence in 110 countries – is unveiling its latest investment in European vaccine production with the construction of a new facility in Hungary, expanding the capacity of Ceva Phylaxia. Ceva will build a 7,000 m2 facility in Monor, Hungary, using state-of-the-art technologies to produce fermentation-based multicomponent inactivated vaccines for animals.
- Unilever is offering its veggie brand The Vegetarian Butcher for sale. The company has allegedly hired an investment bank to oversee the sale, and industry sources told that „a number of potential buyers had already been approached”. Unilever purchased the plant-based food brand created in 2007 by Dutch Jaap Korteweg in December 2018. It seems that the market did not really support this products…
- Koch Foods is investing $145.5 million to expand its operations in Scott County, Mississippi. The project will create 128 jobs over the next five years and enhance the company’s processing and distribution capabilities.
- Initiative Fleisch, a company of the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) and the Association of the Meat Industry (VDF), is getting a communication strategy for the meat consumption. The initiative is a response to the current image and sales problems of red meat, as well as undifferentiated reports on research results. The plan is to revitalize red meat as an integral part of a healthy diet through extensive advertising measures, for example on television and in social media channels. Red meat should once again be able to be consumed „with a clear conscience.” This is also hoped to lead to higher sales for the meat industry. The industry is finally raising its voice, as the elections in the spring of 2025 could put an end to the control of a vegan Muslim on the pig industry.
Events calendar:
All major cities in Europe are opening their Advent and Christmas markets, pork products are between the main items on the shelves. Besides:
- The Portfolio Group’s end-of-year Agribusiness Conference is now one of the largest and most influential agribusiness events in the Hungarian agricultural sector. The exclusivity and uniqueness of the two-day event is that it presents the most topical issues affecting the agri-food sector in a uniquely comprehensive and detailed way. This year the conference is held on two days, 4-5 of December, at Hotel Azur in Siofok. See you there!
- During the international conference Kazakh Grain & Logistic Forum 2024 (December 5-6, Astana), much attention will be paid not only to regional but also to global grain market trends. Kazakhstan is closely integrated into the global agricultural market and is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the grain market of the Central Asian region and neighboring China.
- SIAL India is a leading international trade fair for food and beverages, held annually at the Yashobhoomi India International Convention & Exhibition Centre (IICC) in New Delhi. The SIAL India will take place on 3 days from Thursday, 05. December to Saturday, 07. December 2024.
If We Make It Through December
At the EuroTier fair in November I have met a lot of Dutch and Danish farmers. They were talking about some severe disruptions of the pig industry in their home countries. Several information’s and data pile up now in support of their affirmations.
The pig population of the Netherlands decreased in 2024 compared to the previous year by 2.6 percent to 10.6 million animals. The number of pigs has decreased since 2020, partly due to the exit scheme and the subsidy scheme for the restructuring of pig farming. Compared to 2017, there has been a 15 percent decrease in the number of pigs. This is evident from the most recent figures from the agricultural census of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The farmers that I’ve met were speaking abut a reduction of the sow population by 15%-40% until the end of next year!
Danish farmers complain about the disruption between the piglet price and the pig purchasing price. Now Denmark’s largest slaughterhouse group, Danish Crown (DC),says it is in crisis. „At the moment we are facing a further decline in pig supply of around 5% this financial year. This is a negative spiral and we are doing everything we can to restore our competitiveness,” said the new CEO Niels Duedahl at the presentation of the 2023/24 annual report. The statement is quite strange, given the fact that DC was the company to reduce the Danish pig reference price 3 weeks ago…
The main challenge of this period is posed by the calendar. With the Christmas and the New Year positioned in the middle of the week, logistics and low number of slaughtering days during this 2 weeks will be a huge workload.
Everything’s going to be all right if we make it through December!
