Meat industry on an equal footing with the food trade

Nüssel calls for new alliances of the agricultural economy in Europe of the 25th

"The tactic often prevailing in Germany of almost daily changing of marketing partners is only successful under the current structural deficits in slaughtering and cutting. explained Manfred Nüssel, President of the German Raiffeisen Association, at the DLG winter conference on the subject of "The New Europe - Perspectives for the Agricultural Industry".
  
In the European Union, the structures in the processing and marketing of meat in particular are fundamentally changing. Groups with a European focus are increasingly setting the tone in supraregional meat marketing. "If the German meat industry wants to survive in competition, it has to adapt quickly to the requirements of the market and the strategies of its foreign competitors," explained the Raiffeisen President. For example, B. the entire Danish pig industry on an integrated sector concept. This industry-wide concept includes costly investments in rationalization and expansion in animal husbandry as well as in the slaughterhouse and processing sector. This also includes joint investments and cooperations between companies in the sector in research and development, advice and information, as well as in sales and export.
  
"In Germany, the way we deal with the division of labor has so far been mainly determined by competition and less by partnership," criticized Nüssel. Corporate responsibility usually ends at the interface to the next processing stage. All actors have the same thing
Addressees: the consumer! So far, these similarities have hardly been reflected in day-to-day activities. An alliance based on partnership in the "food value chain" is urgently needed. All sectors of agricultural production and all stages of production, processing and marketing must be networked. "The food trade should also be integrated into this network in the sense of a value-added partnership - as has already happened in the QS scheme," emphasized the Raiffeisen President.

Eastward expansion of the EU: growth spurt for the agricultural markets

The enlargement of the EU on May 1, 2004 will result in far-reaching shifts in competition. The market for agricultural products and nutritional goods will experience a significant growth spurt as a result of the eastward expansion. This changed competitive situation and the resulting opportunities, in particular, should make consistent use of the German agricultural industry in view of its geographical location, said Nüssel.
  
The Europeanization of the marketing structures is already well advanced in the sales markets that are important for German agriculture. "This is the logical consequence of Europeanization in the food retail sector. Different standards in competition policy at national and EU level are therefore no longer up-to-date and no longer acceptable," demanded Nüssel. Many German companies - this does not only apply to agriculture and agriculture - are aware of Europeanization. The willingness to implement corresponding entrepreneurial orientations must continue to grow. German companies are not fundamentally at a disadvantage in this process. However, important competitors such as Denmark and the Netherlands are in a better starting position because the structures there were consolidated early on and largely without any influence from antitrust law.
  
However, according to Nüssel, these deficits in antitrust law must not distract from the need for action and implementation problems that exist in agriculture. Efforts to improve the international competitiveness of the food industry in Germany must therefore aim at increasing efficiency in the entire food value chain. The focus on promising market segments and the pursuit of cost leadership is only a guarantee of success and survival if the structures in processing and marketing enable trading on an equal footing with the food trade. "This balancing act can only be achieved by further bundling of forces. The alliances that are currently developing are going exactly in this direction. At the European level, many - according to previous ideas, unconventional - promising cooperations and alliances are emerging", explained the DRV -President at the DLG winter conference in Berlin.

You can download the manuscript of Nussel's speech here as [PDF file] download.

Source: Berlin [drv]