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  • A plug for pork

    Pork mince is gaining increased recognition, but butchers could do more to promote it.
     - Published:  01 February, 2012

    The mince market is not just about beef and lamb. Pork mince, although a small player in the total market, is starting to gain popularity and market share.

     
  • Mince on the menu

    The price of mince has risen, and while overall demand is down, this does not reflect the real trends in the sector
     - Published:  01 February, 2012

    Spaghetti bolognese is off the menu,” screamed the Daily Mail last September. The paper claimed that the price of 
value-tier mince had broken the “psychologically important” £1 barrier for the first time in two years, with a 25% increase in pack prices making family staple spaghetti bolognese “too expensive” for British families. 


     
  • More for less

    More for less
Ingredients companies are being squeezed on all sides by rising input costs, price-sensitive customers and demands to reduce salt and fat. Melodie Michel investigates how suppliers are balancing pressures to give more for less
     - Published:  06 January, 2012

    As nothing seems to stop the rise in input prices, processors are more inclined to cut costs on sauces and additives, leaving ingredients companies with a challenge. MRC brand manager Scott Dixon says: “The biggest issue we face at the moment is value for money. Companies are definitely trying to cut down, so we are being squeezed and doing the same to our suppliers.”

     
  • Will investment turn the tide?

    While the meat industry has long bewailed the dearth of youngsters coming into the trade, now may be the time for change, as companies and the government invest in training 
on the back of rising 
youth unemployment. 
Arabella Mileham reports
     - Published:  16 December, 2011

    The press this year has been filled with news of rising unemployment, with newspapers gleefully pouncing on figures of 1m young people out of work, as stagnant growth and fears of double-dip recession stifle investment and pitch the UK into a self-fulfilling spiral of decline.

     
  • Under Scrutiny: Playing the quality game

    As consumers cut down on their going-out budget, there is an opportunity for retailers to capitalise on premium food.
     - Published:  16 December, 2011

    The retail sector is still suffering from the recession, and saw its weakest sales growth for six months in November, with only 0.7%, according to the latest figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). But as the overall sector struggles to stay on its feet, it is not all doom and gloom for the food industry. In fact, things are picking up, and inflation is even expected to go down in 2012. 

     
  • Playing it cool

    Efficiency is the watchword of modern-day refrigeration, so both meat and poultry companies and retailers need to optimise their equipment to save money and meet environmental requirements.
     - Published:  09 December, 2011

    Refrigeration can account for as much as 70% of a meat plant’s energy consumption, particularly in abattoirs, so inefficiencies can have a huge impact on a business’ energy bills and carbon footprint. With another big hike in energy prices announced by the major suppliers this summer and a 15% reduction in the discount on the Climate Change Levy introduced in April, things are only set to get worse. But refrigeration does not have to cost the earth. With some well-placed investment and careful maintenance, it is possible to reduce energy bills and environmental impact, from the kill right through to the shop floor.

     
  • Focus on Ireland: Leading by example

    With the Eurozone in apparent meltdown and domino-like financial instability rippling across the continent, Arabella Mileham looks at how the red meat industry in Ireland has fared in the wake of its own fiscal nightmares
     - Published:  28 November, 2011

    Despite the economic uncertainties in Ireland following the multi-billion euro rescue package in November 2010, the Irish meat and livestock industry has proved remarkably resilient during the last year, driven primarily by the strength of its export market. With the agricultural sector maintaining its position as the country’s largest indigenous industry and accounting for one in seven jobs, the agri-food sector has been recognised as key to rallying Ireland out of its economic stupor and lead it back to growth.

     
  • Zero Tolerance

    The Food Standards Agency is getting tough on bullying of its staff in a minority of abattoirs. Carina Perkins talks to chief executive Tim Smith about the problem
     - Published:  28 November, 2011

    Describing some of the incidents of alleged bullying reported by his staff in recent months, Food Standards Agency (FSA) head Tim Smith gives the impression of someone who has seen — and heard — about as much as he is willing to put up with.

    “It seems clear to me, for as long as I have been here, that in very small numbers of plants, but at a very unpleasant and unwelcome level, there has been systematic and routine bullying and harassment of our staff,” he says.

     
  • Poultry report: At the crossroads

    With further consolidation in the poultry industry likely, those companies that can maintain flexibility are likely to do the best in a volatile sector. Carina Perkins reports
     - Published:  11 November, 2011

    History has it that French King Henry IV, who was famous for showing great care for the welfare of his subjects, once proclaimed: “I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.” Ex-US president Herbert Hoover went on to paraphrase the benevolent monarch for his 1928 election campaign, with advertisements promising “a chicken in every pot” if the Republicans won power.

     
  • Under Scrutiny: Has Tesco made the right move?

    Tesco’s ‘Big Price Drop’ is for good for business, analysts say, but will it halt market share decline? Arabella MIleham reports
     - Published:  14 October, 2011

    City analysts have applauded Tesco’s new price positioning strategy as the right move for the retailer, but have warned that it risks destabilising the sector and potentially sparking off a price war.

     
  • Sausages: Nutrition, flavour and innovation

    Premium sausages have increased the rate of product development, says Arabella Mileham
     - Published:  14 October, 2011

    The rise of the premium sausage has helped speed up developments in terms of product flavour and nutritional content. The growth of gourmet sausages has given a boost to gluten-free versions, with higher meat content and improved recipes providing a tastier alternative than was previously available.

     
  • Firm favourite

    Despite atypical weather and a financial downturn, the British consumer 
is continuing to buy the British banger. Arabella Mileham explains wh
     - Published:  14 October, 2011

    As red meat takes another round of battering in the press, and sales across the fresh-meat sector fluctuate, the nation’s love affair with the great British sausage seems set to continue, despite gloomy summer weather during key barbecue months, the continued squeeze on household budgets, and rising pork prices.

     
  • Pack mentality

    With a new plastics-to-diesel plant approved in Bristol, the drive to recycle meat packaging is gaining increasing force. But there is a fine balance to be struck, as Fred A’Court reports
     - Published:  30 September, 2011

    The meat industry may soon be able to send its waste plastic packaging trays and film for recycling into high-quality diesel fuel rather than incinerating it or sending it to landfill. 


     
  • Time to put safety first

    Despite publicity drives and government reviews pushing health and safety up the agenda, businesses are still making the same old mistakes.
     - Published:  30 September, 2011

    Specialist solicitor Catherine Henney, from Eversheds, highlights five common pitfalls that 
health-and-safety lawyers frequently see

     
  • Clean sweep

    Improving hygiene along the food chain is a constant challenge, with an outdated system in slaughterhouses and calls for more stringent measures starting on the farm. Chloe Ryan investigates
     - Published:  16 September, 2011

    Campylobacter, the bacteria most commonly responsible for food poisoning, made 198,252 ill in Europe in 2009. According to the EU’s food-borne illnesses summary report, it affected nearly twice the number of salmonella victims, who numbered 108,614, and vastly outstripped the 1,645 people made ill by listeria.

     
  • Home and away

    While austerity in the UK continues to hold back beef sales, prospects in the export market look bright, but predicting future supply needs is proving a tricky balancing act, says Alyson Magee
     - Published:  02 September, 2011

    A dramatic past year for the British beef industry has seen record deadweight prices, strong domestic supply, rocketing exports and falling imports. However, high prices for producers are creating a challenging environment for processors supplying the UK market, which remains in recession mode.

     
  • Chasing stability

    With volume declines in the double digits, Martyn Leek investigates how the sector plans to get more out of lamb and what successes there are despite the ongoing downturn
     - Published:  19 August, 2011

    In the month where the euro nearly faced collapse, crippled by the debt problems of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, it is good to know that the region is still of use somewhere. The continent is key to the export success of English lamb. Indeed, it is these exports (and those of Welsh and Scottish lamb) that have been the good news story in the lamb sector in the past 12 months.

     
  • Fair and Fowl: the name of the game

    Increasing consumer demand for game is keeping the UK market buoyant. Arabella Mileham reports on a versatile and growing sector
     - Published:  05 August, 2011

    With the Glorious Twelfth hoving into view, thoughts are beginning to turn towards heath and moorland as the season beckons for that most traditional of produce, wild game.

     
  • Meat Movement

    Alyson Magee looks at the legislative and ecological issues facing the transport sector and their impact on meat vehicles
     - Published:  05 August, 2011

    Rising fuel costs and carbon footprint reduction remain key concerns – and drivers of innovation – for logistics providers servicing the meat industry in 2011.

     
  • Focus on Northern Ireland: Upbeat Ulster

    Alyson Magee examines Northern Ireland’s beef and lamb industry and finds a vein of optimism running through the whole trade
     - Published:  22 July, 2011

    Harnessing and highlighting the environmental positives behind its hilly grass-based production and adding value to its abundant, high-quality raw material are among strategies aimed at sustaining a successful Northern Irish beef and lamb industry.

     
  • The problem for pork

    One meat seems to have dominated the headlines of Meat Trades Journal this year more than any other — and that is pork. Martyn Leek looks at the market for pork, predictions for its future and the ongoing debate regarding British-produce
     - Published:  22 July, 2011

    There can be no doubt that the global demand for pork is huge. A recent study by the agricultural lender Rabobank claims that demand for the meat will grow by 43% to 142 million tonnes (mt) by 2030, ahead of a sheep meat increase of 25% and an improvement in beef consumption of 35%. On top of this, the volume of sales is up in the UK too.

     
  • Focus on Wales: Learning to Adapt

    Despite challenges in the domestic market, exports of Welsh Lamb are buoyant and the focus is on efficiency and adaptation. Arabella Mileham reports
     - Published:  24 June, 2011

    The Welsh red meat industry has undergone dramatic changes over the past two years.

     
  • Policing the claim culture

    Ahead of plans by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to scrutinise the CSR claims of the UK’s largest supermarkets, Meat Trades Journal summarises their green policies
     - Published:  13 May, 2011

    The NFU is currently scrutinising the claims of all the majors and here we publish summaries of those policies. We asked for sustainability policies in regards to meat from Asda, The Co-op, Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – however only Asda and Sainbury’s prepared official statements. The other retailers pointed us in the direction of their general CSR statements.

     
  • Keeping its sizzle

    A growing awareness of different cures and the competitive nature of pork have allowed bacon to continue to flourish and the UK’s love affair with the category continues. Arabella Mileham reports
     - Published:  15 April, 2011

    No-one, it seems, can resist a bacon butty, even in a downturn. With doom-laden newspapers reminding Britain of the faltering high street and cuts still to come, the bacon sector has continued to grow over the year, despite a backdrop of economic uncertainty, rising wheat prices and the ongoing crisis facing pig farmers.

     
  • Beyond the cooked meat hype

    The market for cooked meats has stabilised over the last year, but is this all down to increased in-store promotions? Arabella Mileham takes a closer.
     - Published:  22 March, 2011

    The cooked meat market seems to have weathered last year’s tough economic climate extremely well, emerging from the darkest recesses of the downturn with renewed vigour and increased sales. However, despite an apparent stabilisation in the market, heavy promotion by the major retailers may have been behind some of the increase in sales and some in the industry fear the situation may be unsustainable.

     
  • Pork Report: Maintaining momentum

    Pork has bounced back from the lows of just a few years ago, but can the industry sustain its success and avoid falling into a boom-and-bust rollercoaster ride for the category? Ed Bedington takes a look
     - Published:  23 July, 2010

    Pork has been riding high on the hog for the last 12 months, with cash-strapped consumers looking for a more affordable option within the red meat category. But with beef prices starting to tumble, have the days of pork bringing home the bacon come to an end?

     
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