Aldi has increased its market share as shoppers tighten their purse strings in response to the rising cost of living.

Aldi has overtaken Morrisons to become the fourth biggest UK supermarket, with Lidl the fastest growing grocer for the fourth month in a row.

The discounters are benefitting as people tighten their purse strings, with Aldi now ending the ‘traditional big four’.

Kantar data showed Aldi sales rose by 18.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to September 2022, reaching a 9.3 per cent market share. Lidl grew sales by 20.9 per cent and its market share has increased to 7.1 per cent as the sixth largest grocer.

 

Back at the start of the 2010s, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons accounted for over three quarters of the sector.

 

By Alex Black / Farmers Guardian

Agricultural levy board AHDB is considering quitting its Stoneleigh Park base in favour of smaller premises, it has been revealed.

The organisation, which has been based in a £5m, 5,000 sq ft building on the farming and agricultural centre just outside Coventry in Warwickshire since 2014, said a number of factors had led it to reassess the location.

AHDB’s divisional director of engagement Will Jackson said: “We are currently looking at our options to move our headquarters from Stoneleigh to a more suitable-sized building to reflect our current needs and ensure the funds we receive from levy payers are invested as effectively as possible.

“This is part of what we are doing to reflect levy payer feedback through the ‘Shape the Future’ process.”

Former chair of the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds sector board Paul Temple said following changes at the institution, it made sense for it to consider the usefulness of its location.

 

 

By Jane Thynne / Farmers Guardian

Weak demand on the domestic market continues to apply a brake to the UK pork market, although rising EU prices are providing a glimmer of hope. 

“Trade seems to be reflective between last week and this coming week with signs of little change regarding demand being still less than brisk, Thames Valley Cambac said in its latest market update.

“Perhaps as the week unfolds ahead of a short week to mark the funeral of our Queen, any additional demand might encourage buyers to stock up on and support British at a time of great reflection across the country. We certainly need to see demand for available products improve in Q4.”

Prices continue a ‘slow but forward trajectory’, with the SPP lifting 1.13p, the biggest weekly jump in just over a month, and after sticking for one week the German market stepped up another 5 cents to €2.10/kg. In the UK, most Q prices are over the £2.00/kg mark, which is very welcoming.

Many operators in the EU’s agri-food sector are struggling to maintain business in the face of rapidly rising input costs and extreme weather events, according to agri-food chain associations Copa-Cogeca, the Primary Food Processors (PFP) and FoodDrinkEurope.

In a statement, the associations said a combination of problems meant more and more companies in the EU agri-food chain are struggling to maintain their operations, with some companies faced with the choice of stopping production, laying off staff or going out of business.

“Over the past year, the European agri-food sector’s production costs have increased dramatically,” said the organisations’ statement. “Natural gas, electricity, fertilisers, transport fuel, packaging and external labour have all risen.

Cost increases were initially due to a post-Covid rebound in demand and supply chain constraints, but they have been severely exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These cost and inflationary pressures come in a context of extreme weather events – droughts, storms and frosts – that have already caused major impacts on the farming community and agri-food businesses.”

The latest increases in energy prices, especially natural gas and electricity, threaten the continuity of agri-food production cycles and therefore the ability to continue delivering essential agricultural commodities, food ingredient and products, and feed materials.

 

By Chloe Ryan / Poultry News

Shoppers looking for British pigs in blankets and locally reared gammon to serve this Christmas may be forced to buy EU meat instead, the industry has warned.

Supermarkets will be stocking less British meat this winter, after higher feed prices forced farmers to rear fewer animals.

The shortfall will show up over Christmas, which is traditionally the busiest period for pork demand, as people stock up on gammons, pigs in blankets and stuffing for the festive period.

Official estimates suggest there has been a significant drop-off in Britain’s breeding pig herd, down by almost 20pc on last year by June. The numbers are expected to have fallen even further since, as farmers face spiralling costs in energy and animal feed.

Lizzie Wilson, chief executive of the National Pig Association, warned that this meant there was “a hole in supply coming”, meaning shoppers were likely to see less choice for British cuts on supermarket shelves.

“Up until this point, retailers have been really good at buying British pork,” she said. “However, they can’t ignore the fact that EU imported pig meat is significantly cheaper than British.”

The UK is already importing more pig meat from Spain and Belgium as the cost of domestic supply climbs, Ms Wilson warned.

With fewer pigs coming through the system and the sow herd at the smallest it has been in 20 years, “we are definitely going to see less British pork available”, Ms Wilson added.

 

By Hannah Boland / The Telegraph

 

Just 108 companies now control a fourth of China’s swine production capacity, according to a list prepared for a recent swine industry forum. Unpredictable gyrations in China’s hog market continue with the influx of big pig farmers, contrary to the expectations of agricultural officials.

Pigs have historically been scattered across millions of backyard pens, sheds, and living rooms in Chinese villages. At the peak of backyard pig-farming, China’s 1997 agricultural census counted over 130 million rural households raising pigs–usually one or two at a time–and those small family holdings accounted for 95 percent of the swine inventory.

In recent years a handful of companies have been on a hog-farm construction binge. Their expansion accelerated during a 2014-17 environmental regulatory push that shut down hundreds of thousands of small farms. Then the African swine fever epidemic wiped out millions more of small farms, biosecurity requirements and a new round of subsidies favoured big companies, and “pig concept” stocks became fashionable, attracting billions of dollars of capital investment.

A list of 108 companies with at least 10,000 sows was compiled for the 7th China swine industry summit based on company financial reports, industry news, and unpublished sources. The combined sow inventory of the 108 companies as of October-November 2021 was 11.79 million head. That’s about a fourth of the 44.79-million-head national sow inventory reported by the China National Bureau of Statistics’ as of the end of September.

Muyuan Foods Group was the clear number-one company, with 2.7 million sows. Three other companies–Wens Foodstuff, New Hope-Liuhe, and Zhengbang Technology–were listed with 1 million or more sows. These top four companies had a combined 5.9 million sows. Another 15 companies had 100,000-400,000 sows each (3.2 million sows combined), 22 companies had 50,000-90,000 sows (1.4 million combined), and 67 companies had 10,000-40,000 sows (1.2 million combined).

Muyuan pulled ahead of the competition during the African swine fever crisis. A ranking from 2016 showed Wens produced more than 5 times as many hogs as Muyuan and Zhengbang, and a 2019 ranking still showed Wens in the top spot. Muyuan now has 2.7 million sows, more than double Wens’ 1.2 million.

For years Chinese agricultural officials have blamed small farmers for constant booms and busts in the hog industry–“blindly” expanding when prices are high and then killing off sows when prices drop. However, the influx of gigantic farms has perpetuated industry gyrations.

The report estimated that the current population of sows could produce 235.8 million finished hogs if each produced 20 marketed hogs per year. Hogs raised from a sow bred now would be ready for market in September 2022.

The report estimates that 150 companies had 10,000 sows at the beginning of the year, but the number dropped to 108 due to culling of unprofitable sows. The report estimates that the top 108 farms are operating at just two-thirds of their capacity–a third of barns and stalls are empty due to the crash in prices this year.

 

 

by Dim Sums