Facts and Figures
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The Pink Pages
Number: 16
April 2015
Premium sausages sales continue to rise
Over the 12-week period to the start of
February, sausages generally showed a
drop in sales of 1.9% and a fall in volume
of 1.5%.
However, over the same period the
premium end of the market saw a volume
rise of 6.9% and a rise in sales of 2.5%.
Quality sausages have always been a family
favourite and the latest figures show that
popularity is not waning.
Figures from Kantar Worldpanel show
premium sausages are up in terms of both
volume and value against the overall trend
of a small fall.
- 1.9%
- 1.5%
Total Sausage Sales
£186,836,000
Average Price
£4.33 kg
Volume Sold
43,125 tonnes
Premium Sausages
Sales
£74,263,000
+ 6.9%
+ 2.5%
Premium Sausages
Average Price
£5.20kg
Premium Sausages
Volume Sold
14,273 tonnes
- 0.4%
Go to: http://www.bpex.org.uk/prices-stats/published-reports/
UK weekly clean pig slaughterings
- 4.1%
All this information and more is available
in the latest revamped BPEX Category
Report, which has just been published.
The quarterly report includes an overview
of the market and shows almost half of
pork purchased is bought by the over 55s.
When you start looking a little deeper into
the figures, roasting joints, with the
exception of shoulder, are more popular
with older people while the younger
purchaser tends towards buying more
mince.
Analysis of the figures shows consumer
confidence has remained stable for the past
few months as the British economy
continues its steady recovery.
Shoppers have added more items to their
baskets in response to lower food prices
and this has led to improved volume
growth in the GB grocery market. However,
they are still price conscious and demand is
expected to remain muted
•
Source: Kantar Worldpanel
Comparison of UK and EU pig reference prices
The average reference price for exporters to the UK
is a weighted average based on the percentage of
UK pork imports originating from each member state.
Source: Defra
Sources of pig meat consumed in the UK
Source: Defra, HMRC
Source: AHDB Market Intelligence, EU Commission
GB average retail pork carcase price and DAPP
Source: AHDB Market Intelligence
Pig Production
Booking is open:
Innovation
Conference Register
now
This year’s BPEX
Innovation Conference
will provide a glance into the future,
showcasing cutting-edge technology to help
safeguard pig health. Diagnostics, treatment
and prevention of disease will all be covered
this year with speakers from the UK and
abroad, bringing experience not only from
the pig sector but also from human
medicine and aquatics.
There’ll also be smaller breakout
discussions during the day to hear from pig
producers and researchers about
technologies already being applied in
industry, including the latest in precision
farming, how the waste food industry is
reducing odour and technologies for
outdoor pigs.
The conference will be on Wednesday 13
May, at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire and
is designed to provide pig businesses with
the information, ideas and technology they
need to plan for the future and make sure
they are competitive and profitable.
Online registration for the event is now
open for those who would like to attend and
the full programme details are on the
website
•
Fallen stock coolers installed
Trials are underway looking at the benefits of
chilling fallen stock before collection, with
cooling containers now installed and
operational on two trial farms. They will be
evaluated over the next year, seeking to
achieve improved biosecurity as well as
better carcase quality, for improved
marketable yield of products derived from
rendered material following storage.
The collection and disposal of fallen stock
represents a significant cost to pig units. In
addition, on-farm storage, plus movements of
fallen stock in transit between sites, can pose
a serious risk to both biosecurity and the
environment. This has taken on greater
importance with African Swine Fever in
eastern Europe and PEDv in the USA and
Canada.
BPEX environment and building research
coordinator Sue Rabbich said: “Before being
able to recommend the system for the
industry to adopt, further research will focus
on quantifying the effects of storage
temperature and duration upon the carcase
yield, quality, odour emissions and microbial
stability. The aim is to develop a more
secure, cost-effective and sustainable
on-farm system.”
•
For more information, contact Sue Rabbich: [email protected] or 0247 647 8798
Empty and clean feed bins regularly
Pig producers should be vigilant with the
storage of feedstuffs, especially during the
summer and autumn months. Preventing any
build-up of moulds or fungal
contamination in grain and feed and straw
storage facilities will help reduce any
potential mycotoxin contamination and
resultant losses. Poor feed quality can be a
real threat to the physical performance of
both breeding and finishing herds.
Good hygiene and equipment maintenance
are fundamental in reducing the risk. It’s
advisable to empty and clean feed bins
routinely, twice a year as a minimum,
ensuring that no feed is bridging. A build-up
of meal and stale pellets may develop mould
growth which increases the potential for
mycotoxin production. Bins should also be
checked regularly for damage and leaks, with
any damage repaired immediately and the bin
replaced if necessary.
It’s important for producers not to accept
delivery of any ‘hot’ or mouldy feed into a
bin, bearing in mind hot feed is likely to
cause condensation in metal bins. If
acceptance of ‘hot’ feed is unavoidable, it
should ideally be delivered into an empty
bin
•
What: A technical conference showcasing
cutting-edge technology to safeguard pig
health
Who: A must for forward-thinking owners
and farm managers, vets and allied
industry
Date: Wednesday 13 May 2015
Location: Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire
£££: Free of charge
Go to:
www.bpex.org.uk/events/conferences/
For more information, download the fact sheet Action for Productivity 8: Feed and straw
management to reduce the risk of mycotoxins from:
www.bpex.org.uk/media/39533/action-8-feedstraw-mangement-amend.pdf
The new BPEX Technical Managers’ Scheme
is now halfway through and proving very
valuable. One of the main messages from the
recent session on sales and purchases was
the importance of knowing and monitoring
the cost of production; decisions made
during the rearing of a pig would affect the
Sam Bowsher
end product and whether or not a pig was
within specification.
BPEX Training coordinator Sam Bowsher
said: “Those on the course were given an
insight into using a comprehensive cost of
production (COP) calculator and evaluated
how changes in performance could
significantly vary the COP.”
The course also includes a work-based
project for trainees to complete and an idea
from one of the eastern group was to
establish their own COP calculator on their
unit, so they could be more up to date with
the unit performance and identify where
there could be room for improvement.
So far, the group has also covered
supervising pig welfare, interpreting pig
records and managing farm waste and
pollution. The course is giving added insight
and knowledge for supervisors, unit
managers and stockpeople for operating
their units effectively
Robust data from
new field trials
•
Technical Managers Scheme
What: A programme of one-day workshops focusing on technical unit management skills
Who: Unit supervisors, assistant managers or stockpeople who will take on the role of
managing a unit and people in the near future
Qualification: Participants will receive a certificate of attendance from BPEX.
When: During autumn and spring
Cost: £252+ VAT for the full course
For more information, go to:
www.bpex.org.uk/skills-training/training-programmes/technical-managers-scheme/
Free testing of diarrhoea samples
BPEX is funding testing of samples from
diarrhoea outbreaks in pigs on premises in
England and Wales. This is to help increase
the chances of early detection of virulent
PEDv which has been spreading in North
America and was recently confirmed on pig
farms in Ukraine. Samples of faeces or
intestinal contents from diarrhoea outbreaks
in pigs of any age can be collected and sent
to the Animal and Plant Health Agency
(APHA), formerly AHVLA, for testing.
Where a farmer, pig keeper and/or
veterinary surgeon encounters an outbreak of
diarrhoea, a pooled sample should be
collected from up to five pigs affected with
diarrhoea. The faeces should be freshly
passed and collected from pigs early in the
course of disease.
The sample testing is one of several
activities BPEX is coordinating, including
preparation of a contingency plan for the pig
industry, to be activated should porcine
epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv) arrive in the
UK, and a disease charter for producers to
join to enable rapid disease notification.
If PEDv entered the UK, the implementation
of good biosecurity and biocontainment
measures would reduce the rate of spread
and enable the industry to control the
outbreak; BPEX has guidance on this and free
biosecurity signs for pig unit entrances and
fences
•
For information on the free sampling and to view the PEDv contingency plan, go to:
www.bpex.org.uk/health-welfare/health/emerging-diseases/pedv/ To download guidance and
order biosecurity signs go to: www.bpex.org.uk/pig-production/biosecurity/
The new BPEX field trials programme
starting this spring will enable the team to
give firm recommendations to levy payers,
based on solid data. The trials are about
identifying what can make a real difference on
farm to improve production and help achieve
the strategic goal of closing the performance
gap.
These are protocol-based, scientifically
robust trials on commercial and/or research
units which are addressing specific issues in
both the breeding and rearing herds. Areas to
be investigated include the relationship
between sow body condition score and
performance, farrowing best practice and, in
rearing herds, feeder space and stocking
density
•
Peter Dunne
Pig producers interested in taking part in the
field trials programme, should contact:
Peter Dunne on 0247 647 8621 or
07580 704 323
Pig Production
Sales and purchases in the spotlight
Pig Meat Marketing
The heat is on
A pig-themed week on the BBC Radio 4
programme Farming Today included an interview
with BPEX environmental and building manager
Nigel Penlington.
Nigel and his team are working with the
marketing team in BPEX to promote pork as a
sustainable and healthy food.
The interview was about creating the optimum
environment for a pig as, by meeting the pigs’
needs, it makes production more resource
efficient and sustainable.
Nigel demonstrated the use of a thermal
imaging camera and air flow tracer gas, which
have an important role to play in making sure
buildings meet the pigs’ needs.
Nigel said: “By creating the best environment,
it will minimise the environmental impact.
“We have also found instances where
producers thought insulation had deteriorated
but it hadn’t. By using the camera we could
show things were much better than they thought
which served to put minds at rest.”
•
A matter of taste
To find out more, go to:
http://www.bpex.org.uk/news/photo-stories/thermal-imaging-camera-reveals-cold-spots/
Sausages go to India
The British adopted Indian food with gusto,
now hopes are pinned on Indian consumers
taking a shine to British sausages.
The first British sausages (and pork
products for that matter) have landed at a
major foodservice show in Delhi called
AHAAR.
The first batch of bangers to go to the
sub-continent were well received and hopes
are high it could be the start of something
big.
BPEX export manager Jean-Pierre Garnier
said: “We identified a good importer
because there is a real demand for safe,
quality sausages, particularly in the large
hotels which have a substantial foreign
clientele. Retailers have also shown interest
at the exhibition.”
“We are extremely pleased to have this
foot in the door. Gaining access to India has
been difficult, particularly the custom
clearing stage but some of the more
onerous requirements have now been
relaxed, meaning we can start exporting
fresh pork as well.
“There is a huge market for pork and a
chronic shortage of it in the country but it is
not going to be an easy one to develop.
However, the prize will make it well
worthwhile
•
BPEX’s master butcher Keith Fisher, has lent his
well-honed, (and well insured!) taste buds to the
Meat Management Meat Industry Awards.
As chief judge, Keith oversaw the evaluation of
over 800 products which spanned three days of
tasting and testing. Retailers, processors and
manufacturers all submitted their ‘best in
shows’ which covered several categories and
included beef, lamb, pork and poultry.
Keith said: “It’s been great to see the level of
innovation within the meat category – especially
the number of pulled pork dishes that have been
submitted, which I have to say, were delicious.”
The winners will be announced at a dinner on 30
June 2015
•
To find out more, go to: www.lovepork.co.uk
To find out more, go to: http://www.eblex-bpex-export.org.uk/
For more information
Tel: 0247 647 8811
© Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board 2015. All rights reserved.
www.bpex.org.uk
BPEX is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
BPEX The Pink Pages January 2014