'Charming the meat industry for guarantors and bears'

New revenue models in the pig sector are emerging. Porc D'Or tries to make a difference by working together regionally. According to chain coordinator Jan Bakker, collaboration brings many advantages. There are also challenges, such as marketing bears and deposits.

How is Porc D'Or organised?
"Porc D'Or is a regional meat brand in the northeast of the Netherlands of Noordvlees BV from Gieten (Drenthe). The supply is provided by 24 northern pig companies to a cooperative. Every week they deliver approximately 2.500 pigs, which are partly transported by pig trade Dijk, and "are slaughtered at Compaxo in Zevenaar (Gelderland). The gilts are destined for Porc D'Or. The boars and herds go into the conventional industry. The pig farmers are settled on the German pig price (ZMP) with supplements on top."

"We prefer to work with closed pig farms. The focus is on uniformity, regionality and sustainability. Actually, the transport distance to Compaxo is already too far for us. The meat, which can be traced back to the barn, is then sold at northern butchers. The supermarket is deliberately not a sales channel for Porc D'Or meat. In summary: pork from the region, for the region."

What development have you gone through?
"A few years ago we breathed new life into Porc D'Or. The brand has been around for some time, but the concept around it was set up 3 years ago. Noordvlees wanted to be more involved with the pig farmers. That is how the concept came about. My role is to connect the different parties in the production process. We have grown steadily in recent years and our ambition is to continue that line."

Porc D'Or has had a go at it for a number of years now; what challenges do you face?
"We could use more support from butchers to promote regional pork. They often promote their own butcher shop, but not so much the meat. Square valuation is of course a challenge. We can recover the additional costs from approximately 60% to 65% of the carcass. The heads, legs and organ meats go into the industry. In terms of square footage, we are lucky that a lot of sausage is eaten in the Northern Netherlands. A lot of shoulder meat is used for this."

"We are also trying to charm the meat industry for regional boar meat. Bears are less of a problem for processed meat. In addition, the raw materials for certain regional sausage types do not yet come from the region. Our goal is to respond to this. Preferably we would like to have the pigs slaughtered in the north of the Netherlands. That is not possible at the moment. There is an opportunity here for slaughterhouses. When an animal disease breaks out, slaughterhouses benefit from national coverage. Slaughtering just across the border in Germany is not an option . This does not correspond to our regional character."

Why pig farmers are joining you?
"One motivation to participate is often to be connected to the end product. The flesh is removed from anonymity. We regularly organize meetings to learn from each other. Achieving better performance together is our aim. There is also a cost advantage. For example, when purchasing feed, genetics and animal health. We currently purchase the feed from ForFarmers. We evaluate the state of affairs annually. If necessary, we can switch. In addition to a cost advantage, uniformity has more advantages. Everyone speaks the same language and key figures can easily be compared."

Where will Porc D'Or be in 5 years' time and what will Dutch pig farming look like then?
"We want to grow, without going outside the region. We want to grow about 25% in kilos per year. This also means extra sales of boars and deposits outside Porc D'Or. For the time being, we can handle our growth plans internally with our producers "We aspire to a closed cycle. The pig manure is already sold to arable farmers in the region. It would be nice if the feed raw materials were also produced regionally, so that the cycle is closed. I expect that pig farming in the Netherlands will shrink slightly. Also I expect regionality to gain ground from bulk production."

During the National Economic Agriculture Congress, organized by Boerenbusiness The various developments in the pig market are also discussed. Subscribers of Boerenbusiness can attend the event for free. Click here for more information.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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