May 4, 2021

Germany's small, medium-sized slaughterhouses to get more support

Germany's Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, has recently expressed agreement with German federal states that small and medium-sized regional slaughterhouses will get greater support.

Since last month, states can now offer corresponding programmes, which will be co-financed by the federal government at 60%. The aim is to expand decentralised facilities in order to shorten transport distances for the animals.

Previously, the funding only extended to small and micro enterprises. With the expansion of the funding options, regional slaughterhouses, for example, which are operated in connection with agricultural producers and rural butchers and were previously ineligible for funding due to their size, can now be supported with funding.

To ensure that the support is targeted, it is only available to medium-sized slaughterhouses that comply with specific requirements.

These facilities must demonstrate that their operations primarily serve a regionally oriented value chain and aim to reduce animal transport times, and that existing slaughter and meat processing companies are not displaced or significantly weakened as a result.

- BMEL (Germany)