BPEX Weekly: March 5, 2010

Marketing News

Bacon Connoisseur’s Week

Join us on Facebook

This is the place to enter your views and thoughts about bacon, cooking it, using it, where the best buys are, and what events are going on during the week.  So get online and start telling everyone what you are doing or thinking, about bacon that is!  Click here to see more.

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There is a ‘Making the most of the Week’ guide which provides details on a range of activities that can be carried out throughout the week, to help boost your sales and promote bacon at the same time. 

Also listen to Anton promoting the week by clicking here.

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From next week some of the major multiples will be beginning their Red Tractor bacon promotions.

So look out in-store for either on pack stickers, posters, recipes, or special deals on Red Tractor bacon.

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Win Bacon Butties

The Consumer Bacon Butty competition to win 50 bacon butty’s for your work place has gone live and as part of the competition entrants have to vote for their favourite sauce red vs brown. So far red is in the lead with 55% vs 32%.  To add your view click here to vote and why not enter the competition at the same time.

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The Butchers Product Evaluation and Roadshow is calling at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium next week.  Entries are still being received for products varying from sausages, bacon and pies to ready meals. So if you have a prize winning product, enter now, forms available by clicking here.

And with more than 14 exhibitors attending this show there will be lots on offer and plenty of chances to chat to them all or catch up with other like minded butchers.

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An importer and exporter is looking to move container loads of fifth quarter pork to the Far East. Anybody who can supply should get in touch with Tony Goodger.

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Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the Week: Ventilation

As the weather starts to improve ensure air inlets are adjusted accordingly for increasing day/night temperatures, which can trigger respiratory ailments and vices. Make sure ducts and inlets/outlets are clean and not damaged to ensure optimal efficiency.

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Last Chance for Conference

‘Back to the Future’ is the theme for the second national BPEX Knowledge Transfer producer conference. It will be held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough, on Tuesday 16th March.

Speakers from both the northern and southern hemispheres will lead the discussion, helping pig businesses focus on the current challenges and grab the opportunities.

Future gilt management, technologies, health and staffing will be tackled, along with the future of the pork product itself.

Attendance is free but please register with Sue Wickham so that we can cater for the correct number. Further details are available from the BPEX website. Sue Wickham: [email protected]  or telephone: 0247 647 8793.

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Helen Thoday, South West Knowledge Transfer Manager, has now organised the training workshops for the first quarter of 2010 in the South West. Each event will provide the opportunity for farm staff to meet on a regular basis and have fun, while improving their pig production knowledge and effectiveness on the unit. Visit the website to see what is happening near you, click here to find out.

To book your free place at a workshop or to find out more, please contact Helen Thoday: 07973 701 202 or [email protected].

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The BPEX KT team would like to invite you and your staff to the forthcoming workshop on gilt management at York Racecourse on Wednesday 17th March, 18:30-20:30.

We have invited Dr Paul Hughes from South Australian Research and Development Institute to come and talk about new and exciting gilt management policies for optimal production. We also have vet. Henrike (Riki) Jäger, CertPM MRCVS, from Garth Partnership, who will present case studies and discuss common gilt management problems/solutions seen on farms in the UK. There will be mini-sessions with the opportunity to put questions to each of the speakers and discuss in smaller groups. The workshop is open for everyone and free to attend, PIPR points will be available. To register contact Lis Ravn: 0789 165 6784.

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National News:

Census Results Encouraging

The English pig herd has grown by four per cent over the last year according to the latest figures released by Defra, which is very encouraging says industry strategy body BPEX.

The December 2009 sample census results have just been published and they show the breeding herd stands at 438,000 – a four per cent rise on the previous December.

The breeding herd consisted of marginally fewer sows in pig, a reduction of 0.4 per cent to 365,000 head, although the number of gilts in pig increased by nearly 13 per cent to 52,000 head in December 2009 compared with year earlier statistics.

The number of fattening pigs, or pigs for finishing, in England totalled 3.3 million, an increase of one per cent compared with year earlier census information.

Overall, the total pig population in England in December totalled 3.75 million, just over one per cent higher than a year earlier.

Market Intelligence Senior Analyst James Park said: "These results support the current quiet optimism within the industry, although they do not take into account the challenging weather conditions in January which may well have affected productivity, growth and mortality rates."

BPEX Director Mick Sloyan said: "This is very encouraging for the whole industry which has seen some turbulent times.

"It also points to growing confidence particularly as producers are now seeing a period of comparatively stable prices couple with continuing strong consumer demand for pork and pork products."

To take a closer look at the census, click here

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Below are the latest BPHS assessment dates.

Assessment dates for January to June 2010 in all participating abattoirs have been published and are available on the BPEX website.

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Retail pork sales are still flying high according to the latest quarterly category report from BPEX, showing the strongest performance of all the red meats.

For the 52 weeks ending on January 24, fresh pork sales were up 5.6% in volume and 6.6% in value.

Bacon and sausages were also performing strongly with the former showing a 2.8% increase in expenditure while sausages were 6.6% up.

BPEX head of Marketing Chris Lamb said: "Pork’s impressive performance in 2009 is continuing into the early part of this year.

"Consumers are seeing more value in pork, bacon and sausages and they are taking up a greater and greater share of shopping trolley space across the range."

The Quarterly Category Report is now available on the BPEX website and can be down loaded by clicking here.

If you are new to the site you will have to register but this is a simple process which will not have to be repeated.

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CCTV For Abattoirs?

RSPCA Freedom Foods is calling for all abattoirs to have CCTV installed as part of its ongoing work to improve the welfare of farm animals at all stages of their lives.

With such a large number of animals going through abattoirs every day, the RSPCA is aware of the significant welfare risks involved and believe this is an area that needs even closer scrutiny.

John Avizienius, deputy head of RSPCA farm animal science, said: "All farmed animals deserve to have a painless and humane end to their lives. This is why we believe this is such an important step forward as CCTV not only acts as a ‘preventative’ measure, but also allows proper evidence to be collected if animal welfare is suspected of being compromised.

"We will be consulting with industry to ensure that CCTV becomes mandatory in all RSPCA standards and therefore Freedom Food approved abattoirs; and are calling for all slaughterhouses in the country to follow suit."

Currently around half of the Freedom Food accredited abattoirs already have CCTV installed as it is ‘strongly recommended’ in the RSPCA welfare standards.

Freedom Food has already told relevant scheme members that the RSPCA’s technical standards working groups will be meeting shortly to discuss this proposal, with the aim of providing advice to ensure the new RSPCA requirements are practical, achievable and effective.

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It has been confirmed that the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) is to be dissolved and its staff and functions will form part of a new Food Standards Agency Operations Group from April 1.

The MHS was established on April 1 1995 and carries out all inspections at fresh meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales. They help ensure that the meat industry safeguards the health of the public, and the health and welfare of animals at slaughter.The FSA is hoping the move will save around £2 million.

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Climate change continues to dominate the headlines and will be headlining the annual Outlook Conference in London in April.

Outlook 2010, A Changing Climate? is jointly hosted by BPEX and EBLEX and takes place on Wednesday, April 14, at One Great George Street, Westminster.

The cost for the one-day conference, which includes lunch, is £200 plus VAT and places are going fast.

AHDB Senior Economic Analyst Mark Topliff said: "The Conference is vital for all those involved in the meat industry providing an overview of the market plus pointers to the future to influence sound business decisions."

The morning session features Tom Vosa of the National Australia Bank looking at the UK economic recovery, while Sion Roberts, chief executive of English Food and Farming Partnerships examines implications for the food chain and food affordability.

They will be followed by Dr Duncan Pullar, Head of Research and Development for EBLEX tackling the myths and realities of climate change.

Mark Driscoll of the World Wildlife Fund examines the need to address the production and consumption footprint and the morning is rounded of by AHDB interim chief executive Richard Lowe who will outline how consumers are reacting.

In the afternoon there will be parallel sessions, one covering beef and lamb and the other pigs.

To reserve a place, contact Jacqui Emery .

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International News:

Organic Area Up

Organic farming in the EU27 covered 7.8 million hectares in 2008, up by 7% compared with 2007.

Over a longer time period, the data available for the EU25 show an increase of 21% in the total organic area between 2005 and 2008.

In 2008, the five Member States with the largest organic area in the EU27 were Spain (1.3 million hectares), Italy (1.0  m ha), Germany (0.9 m ha), the United Kingdom (0.7 m ha) and France (0.6 m ha).

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Spanish livestock farmers are complaining about an evaluation system developed as part of a welfare project, according to the latest Export Report

The aim is to develop a common system to test and improve the animal welfare in the livestock sector. Spanish farmers say the system is subjective and not feasible in Spain.

They are also disappointed because they are obliged to invest continually in improvements but get no return from them as consumers prefer to buy cheaper products and those are coming from abroad, where all these measurements are not applied.

To read the full report, click here.

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Three of them are for GM maize products which received a positive opinion from EFSA and underwent the full authorisation procedure set out in the EU legislation. They are produced by conventional crossing of two or three GM maize – namely MON863, NK603 and MON810 – that are already authorised in the EU for food and feed uses and import and processing. As Member States failed to return qualified majority decisions for or against these decisions in the Council, the dossiers were sent back to the Commission for decision.

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Prices Good in the US

Live hog prices are expected to average about $51 per live hundredweight for 2010 with costs around $47, according to Purdue University Extension Economist Chris Hurt.

In a report, Hurt said this would translate into a profitable year of about $10 per head, with the best of those profits coming this spring and summer, compared to losses in 2008 and 2009.

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Korean retailers have been competing to cut the prices of pork belly when the country’s farmers promote consumption of the popular dish, dubbed "samgyeopsal."

March 3 was picked as the day because samgyeopsal, which means "three-layered pork" in Korean, is commonly served as an evening meal thanks to its taste and low price, according to the Korea Times.

The nation’s major retail chains, which have staged a dog-eat-dog competition of late in cutting down prices of their products, are leading the marketing blitz.

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For the latest EU prices, click here.

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