August 8, 2011

Italy's pork producers warn of impending sector crisis

Italy's minister of agriculture has called a crisis meeting with pig sector representatives after several thousand pork producers staged a demonstration outside the Stock Exchange in Milan.

Two national agricultural organisations, Confagricoltura and Coldiretti, have also issued warnings of a sector-wide collapse, claiming that the livelihood of many people is at risk, as the price paid to producers has failed to rise in line with production costs.

According to them, about 120,000 people are involved in the pork chain in Italy, from production on the farm through to slaughter, processing and meat distribution.

Confagricoltura and Coldiretti claim that the primary producer in Italy receives less than 16% of the final retail price charged for pork while contending with at least a 17% rise in the cost of feed this year resulting from the involvement of speculators in international commodity markets.

Concerns also have been raised about the importing of pork, with one organisation claiming that three out of every four hams now sold in Italy have been produced in another country. There is even a claim that many hams marketed as being of Italian origin in fact originate from imported meat.