Spain woos Greece over meat exports
Business meetings last week in Athens were arranged after an introductory series of presentations delivered there in May.
The latest mission to the Greek capital was organised by the Spanish meat export office, La Oficina de Exportación de la Carne De España (OECE), the joint export promotion body embedded within the Confederation of Spanish Meat Organisations (Confecarne).
An OECE note said it foresees significant opportunities as Greece’s economy continues to grow after recovering from near-collapse at the height of the euro currency crisis.
Spanish producers are working hard to counter slowing export sales, caused by factors beyond their control. Fresh and processed meat is Spain’s leading farm food export: 1.43 million tonnes (t) of fresh and 138,736t of processed, meat went abroad in 2013. Export sales were almost €4.2 billion, but this was only 3.9% higher than in 2012, which had seen an 11% leap on 2011.
The OECE remarked that the slower increase in 2013 was "in large measure a direct consequence of the closure of the Russian market for almost the whole year".
Disruption has continued following European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. In October, Russia announced a temporary halt to offal imports from the EU. Last week, it banned some ready-to-cook products containing meat and produced by EU nations including Spain.
Meat is a basic in Greek cookery, which is highly dependent on imports to meet demand. Spain is currently the fifth-largest exporter of meat to Greece, behind France, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Pork meat, offal, beef and veal dominate Spain’s share of a market which displays marked seasonality. Lamb meat and live lambs are in high demand around Easter, while pork increases in popularity in the Christmas period.
OECE manager Daniel de Miguel told GlobalMeatNews: "With the valuable collaboration of Spain’s economic and commercial office, the ambassador in Greece, and ICEX [Spain’s export agency], the mission has been of great commercial interest to participating Spanish businesses."
Importers, distributors or agents are the most important sales channels in Greece. Five supermarket chains account for more than 60% of the market, with gourmet shops and foodservice playing minor roles.
Acknowledging that Spanish meat has a relatively low market share there, the OECE added: "Spanish products enjoy a good image in Greece and have been well received, so there are great business opportunities."
It also stressed that while total export sales slowed last year, foreign sales of frozen and fresh pork were maintained, despite the difficulties, at more than a million tonnes, a level first reached in 2012. Frozen and fresh pork accounts for 56% by value of Spanish meat exports.
