Perception of meat needs rebuilding, finds roundtable

The Roundtable, organised by the Belgian Meat Office (BMO), a subsidiary of the Flanders Agricultural Marketing Board (VLAM), debated the question of price and value in the supply chain under the premise that "people know the price of everything and the value of nothing"​.

Chairing the meeting, BMO manager René Maillard said: “Consumers want producers to get a fair price, but they still want the cheapest.”​ He said there was increasing consolidation of the industry, which was forcing the supply chain to rationalise. Europe, he said, was a mature market so there is low growth, more consumer hesitation and a growth in convenience demand, while the rising costs of feed, fuel, labour and regulation, along with the impact of currency fluctuation, was squeezing profits for the industry .

Perception​

Guy De Bruycker, CEO of meat processor Q Group, told delegates that prices at the level that some retailers were offering was “impossible”​ to produce. He said it was potentially misleading to consumers to promote the idea that producers and processors had big margins. This, he said, was a dangerous perception and warned that the situation was not sustainable.

“Nowadays you can pay more for a kilo of cat food than the chicken you buy,”​ he said, adding that this is despite the fact that consumers are willing to pay more for meat with certain perceived health benefits.

The perception of the meat industry has to be raised, the panel agreed. “The customer doesn’t have a good idea of the effort that goes into a pork chop in a shop,”​ De Bruycker said.

Luc Verspreet, CEO of Belgian slaughterhouse Covalis and co-president of meat company Vivanda, said the industry needed to explain itself more carefully to communicate greater respect and understanding.

He said: “It is not a product retailers can play with. When there is a shortage of product and one country is primarily importing, it can be a dangerous thing. Europe has to change some rules or the model will collapse. We need long-term suppliers, as we cannot continue this way of working in the long term.”​

The panel and delegates debated whether the potential reduction in pigmeat producers as a result of the changes in sow stall legislation in January 2013, and the possible fall in availability and resulting rising prices may force consumers to start to value meat.

However, they agreed that marketing and communication could play a key role, while the more difficult task of tackling the problem of an imbalance in market power would be crucial.