TheMeatSite Newsletter - 30 May 2012

TheMeatSite Weekly Newsletter

Wednesday 30th May 2012

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Food Processors Facing Tough Times

Over the last week, the severe economic climate that has cast a shadow over the world for the past few years has started to take its toll on some of the major companies in the global food processing industry.

According to reports from France, the poultry processing giant Doux could go into receivership this Friday because of mounting debts.

The company recently handed over the operations of its Brazilian poultry processing arm, Frangosul, to the processor JBS.

The CEO and the company general secretary have been suspended and the Doux family has taken the company back under its own control.

According to French economic analysts, the company has debts amounting to €430 million to banks, suppliers and in Brazil.

In the UK, recent takeover proposals by the Scandinavian group Arla Foods of Milk Link could have serious repercussions for not only the UK milk industry but the European and even global dairy sectors.

The Arla-Milk Link deal if it gets the go-ahead from the competition authorities will see the amalgamation of two significant dairy co-operatives.

This merger puts the new co-operative head to head with the other leading European dairy business, Müller, which at the start of the year bought out another UK dairy business, Robert Wiseman Dairies.

The growth of the two European dairy giants in the UK has put further pressure on Dairy Crest which reported a loss of £10.1 million over the last year.

In Chile there has been mounting concern for the welfare of 500,000 pigs which are expected to be slaughtered after the government closed down the Agrosuper processing plant and pig facility in Freirina because of biosecurity and environmental issues.

On a more positive note, poultry processor, Sanderson Farms, which reported a loss of nearly $50 million for the first six months of last year, recorded a profit of nearly $16 million for the first six months of this year.

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 6 new features this week:

Salmonella Harboured in Lymph Nodes of Cattle
Salmonella in beef cattle can evade detection because it becomes hidden in the lymph nodes of the carcase and in consequence can increase the contamination of ground beef products, writes Chris Harris.

Safety Throughout the Food Supply Chain
Nutrition consciousness is becoming more and more widespread. When shopping for groceries, many consumers are no longer focused only on low prices; instead, they are making high quality their top priority.

Effect of Varying Light Intensity on Carcase Characteristics of Broilers
Reducing lighting intensity may be beneficial on farms using low–lighting environment to reduce hyperactivity, pecking damage and energy costs without physiological stress effects on broiler welfare, according to USDA researchers in Mississippi. There were some significant effects of light intensity on some carcass characteristics.

Improving Meat Quality of Organic Pork Post Mortem
A study from the Danish Meat Research Institute and the University of Aarhus in Denmark took an innovative approach to how the meat quality of organic pork could be improved through the way the carcases were handled post mortem.

Meat Prices Hover Near Record Levels - FAO Global Outlook
Global meat markets are likely to face heightened trade competition in 2012, at the same time that recovering meat production in Asia is set to dampen growth in global import demand, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN.

EU Pig Meat Production – 2011
Total pig meat output for the 27 countries of the European Union was more than 22.3 million tonnes in 2011, 1.6 per cent or almost 343,000 tonnes more than the previous year, writes senior editor, Jackie Linden.

Market Reports

» UK Slaughter Statistics - May 2012
» Agricultural Price Indices - March 2012
» USDA International Meat Review - 24th May
» USDA GAIN: Russian Federation Dairy and Products Semi-Annual 2012
» USDA Poultry Slaughter: Ready-to-Cook Weight Up 1 Percent
» Veal Production at Record Low for April
» BPEX Export Bulletin – Week 21
» Irish CSO Livestock Slaughterings - April 2012
» AHDB European Market Survey - 25 May 2012
» AHDB UK Market Survey - 25 May 2012
» International Egg and Poultry Review: US Poultry Exports

Company News

Quality in Meat-Bone Separation
ALGERIA - At the DJAZAGRO exhibition in Algiers recently, French company LIMA, promoted their RM 70 S model, which is mainly dedicated in the North African market to the poultry industry.

CNA Represents Brazil at IMS World Meat Congress
FRANCE - Brazil will be represented by CNA (the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation) president Senator Kátia Abreu at the 19th World Meat Congress taking place in Paris between 4 and 6 June.

Global Meat Industry News