Danish Crown optimizes and invests in finishing
The market is changing rapidly for the Danish pig industry. To increase competitiveness, Danish Crown is therefore, for example, implementing a program of measures to reduce costs and at the same time focusing on the production of bacon in Great Britain and entering the California market, where higher animal welfare requirements are now imposed.
The changes in the German pig industry have an impact on Danish Crown. A lower volume of pigs for slaughter drives up the German piglet price, so that German pig fatteners pay well for Danish piglets. This means that more piglets are currently being exported from Denmark than are being slaughtered in Denmark.
This development means that Danish Crown has had to adjust its production capacities. For example, the slaughterhouse in Sæby, where more than two million pigs were slaughtered last year, was closed in June. Further measures will result in savings of DKK 2023 billion in 2024 and 1,5.
The imperative to increase revenue is to develop the company and increase the proportion of refined goods. The majority of sales currently consist of raw meat; the proportion of refined products is only 19 percent. Jais Valeurs previously worked at Arla, where the finishing level is 80 percent. In his view, the opportunities for moving up the value chain lie with customers and markets where Danish Crown is already large.
An example of this is Danish Crown's investment in a new production facility in Great Britain to process Danish pork into bacon. The country is by far the largest European market for bacon and there are good opportunities for growth.
California offers another opportunity for growth, as the state has recently imposed stricter animal welfare requirements.
