Pork production in regional chains

By Mette Christensen and Nel Wognum

 

Small-scale pork chains are regional chains, which include the biological/organic chains. They deliver mostly regionally and high-quality products to lean markets. Their importance is expected to grow, as European consumers increasingly demands regional products at high quality. In contradiction, large-scale productions have international sourcing and trade, and professionalization of the chain links.

 

A regional chain has therefore some complementary challenges in the production. Due to their special character and smaller dimensions they are more vulnerable and are forced to adjust themselves continuously to the changing requirements of consumers. On the other hand, they can often sell the products at a higher price due to the higher added value (i.e., food safety and quality level) of their special products. Two examples of such regional chains are the Mangalica pig from Hungary and a small chain in Middenbeemster in the Netherlands.

 

Mangalica pig

The most common types of Mangalica pigs in Hungary are the Blonde, the Swallow-Bellied and the Red Mangalica. The meat is characterised by a high degree of intramuscular fat (approx. 7.5-9%), high extent of saturated fat and the meat has a strong taste and has a high juiciness. Consumption of this meat containing proteins, fatty acids and other nutrients in optimal proportion and composition is very healthy. In addition, the meat is an excellent basic ingredient for salami, dry sausages and is a good source of ham. Nowadays, Mangalica is one of the indigenous protected animals of Hungary and may very well give rise to a new pork chain.

 

Middenbeemster

In Middenbeemster, in the North-Western part of the Netherlands, pig farmers decided together with local butchers and other supply chain parties to establish a small regional supply chain. They wanted to produce high quality meat to the local market. Several decades ago, the farmers did not have the economics of scale to participate in the existing fresh meat chain. A sustainable pig production was needed to get a higher price for his pigs.

 

"Today the farmers in the region have about 200 pigs which are produced without use of antibiotics, sows in gestation is kept in a large open barn on straw, pigs are fed with grain and straw from the same area and the grain comes to the farm through a local, GMP certified, feed producer who mixes the grain into pig feed. The pigs are delivered to a small slaughterhouse for slaughter after which carcasses is distributed to approximately 20 butchers", Nel Wognum, Wageningen University (Netherlands) says.

 

"A win-win situation is created for all parties. The farmer gets a higher price per pig, the butchers have a good marketing concept and the feed producer has stable demand and supply. The farmer is a member of a larger initiative in the Netherlands that aims at marketing the pig farming sector to the broad public. The initiative has received subsidy from the government to install a sky box in the stables to allow the public to watch breeding sows and piglets".

 

Module IV In module IV inventories of existing pork chains in Spain, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Netherlands, China and South Africa are being compiled with the aim to achieve extensive insight into the structure and variety of the European and international pork systems. Special attention is given to regional production systems, as these have a special place in the European market.