Rising pig supply creates 260 Danish Crown jobs
An increase in pig supply to the six abattoirs run by Danish Crown in its home market has led to the creation of 260 jobs.
The meat processor and one of the world’s largest pork exporters said the increase in pig supply is down to three things: its growth package for pig farmers; subsidies for new housing units and the Danish government’s controversial agriculture package.
Policy ‘having an effect’
“I’m very pleased that we are about to take on so many new employees,” said Danish Crown’s Group CEO Jais Valeur.
“There is no doubt that the Danish government’s growth package for the agricultural sector and the subsidy scheme for new pig housing units have sparked renewed optimism in the industry. At the same time, the growth package adopted by our board of representatives at the beginning of May is also clearly having an effect, which is very positive.”
Just over six weeks ago, Danish Crown started paying farmers an extra DKK 0.50 per kg of meat as part of a growth package incentivising farmers to produce more pork.
‘Increase production’
These measures were introduced after the firm feared its position as a top pork exporter was under pressure as record-breaking numbers of pigs and piglets were shipped out of Denmark to countries including Germany and Poland.
This prevented Danish Crown – a meat, not livestock trader – from sourcing enough raw material to meet demand from other countries for pork.
So bad was the situation that the business feared it might have to close one of its six abattoirs, but it does not believe this to be a serious consideration any longer. “It’s wonderful that after ten years of falling supplies, we are now seeing an increase in the supply of slaughter pigs,” said Per Laursen, senior vice president of Production at Danish Crown Pork.
“This means that we can increase production and welcome new employees instead of having to cut capacity.”
Danish Crown could not be reached to comment further on the story.
