Pork has traditionally been treated as a commodity, but as retailers force food safety and try to brand pork, producers will have to respond and change from product- to consumer- driven production. Professor Hans-Wilhelm Windhorst, director of the ISPA, Detlef Breuer from ISN, Paul Brand of Brand Quality Meat and Gustav Dronsbein from Westfleisch gave their opinions on this trend during a visit to the ISPA centre in Germany.

To be successful, the pork value chain needs to have leadership from the retailer, deep relationships between processors and their suppliers, a passion for improvement and a commitment for continuous learning. One of the bottlenecks to be overcome is data communication to a bigger and more varied team in the production chain.

Many pig producers in the Chines province of Zhejiang illegally feed their pigs the toxic clenbuterol, a chemical that can be dangerous to humans if they eat the animals.