The Bell Group acquires majority stake in German ham specialist Abraham. Abraham, with around 190 million EUR turnover and 650 employees of the leading European prosciutto producers and is the market leader in Germany. This strategic participation Bell takes a further step in the implementation of the internationalization strategy.
With effect from January 01st, 2009, the German ham specialist Abraham entered into a far-reaching partnership geared towards further international growth with the Swiss, listed company Bell AG.
The Swiss meat market giant Bell is continuing its expansion from the Alpine Republic into the European Union by acquiring a stake in the German ham specialist Abraham. It started this year with the entry into the French Groupe Polette in June. The second step was the Zimbo acquisition in September and now the leading German raw ham manufacturer Abraham.
The German Institute for Food Technology (DIL) e.
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D&S Fleisch GmbH, one of the largest pig slaughterhouses and cutting plants in Germany, has welcomed a total of six new employees to its team since August 01st. Because these six young people - five men and one woman - have decided to start their professional future at D&S Fleisch GmbH and their contracts for the two to three year company training have already been signed. They are supported and accompanied by the training managers Dr. Andreas von Breitenbuch, Head of Quality Assurance, and Claudia Schwindeler, Head of Financial Accounting.
Trust is a key factor for the future success of companies in the food industry and its importance will only increase. All the speakers at the DLG Food Days, which took place on October 8th and 9th in Frankfurt am Main and in nearby Bad Soden, agreed on this. Current events in the past few weeks have once again underlined the importance, especially for food manufacturers. For the President of the DLG (German Agricultural Society), Carl-Albrecht Bartmer, "Responsibility is one of the key issues of social coexistence in our 21st century," he emphasized at the opening of the conference. In view of the far-reaching societal change in values that we are experiencing in all societies and countries, “if we take responsibility seriously, the long-term effects of our actions must not be ignored. Otherwise we endanger the great good of freedom and thus the free society,” warned the DLG President. He also spoke self-critically of a “lack of perception of responsibility”.
The forecasting committee of the EU Commission expects a significant decline in pig production in the coming quarters. From the results of the livestock census in the spring, a declining supply of slaughter pigs can be forecast. Although sufficient data is only available for 15 of the 27 Member States, these countries represent more than 90 percent of the market. According to this, the pig population has decreased by 8,5 million animals or 5,6 percent compared to the previous year. Far more significant, however, is the drastic reduction in the number of sows by 1,25 million dams, which corresponds to a decline of 8,7 percent. If one summarizes the results of all countries, then a reduction in production in 2008 of between 1 and 2 percent can be expected.
In times of globalized trade in goods, the international links in the trade in poultry meat are also increasing. Not only are imports growing on the German market; Business with other countries is also becoming increasingly important for the local poultry industry, above all as an outlet for items that cannot be sold in this country or are difficult to sell.
Consumer prices for fresh food (fresh products) fell slightly by 2008 percent in September compared to August 0,7; compared to the same month last year, however, they increased by 4,9 percent. The ZMP comes to this assessment on the basis of the current data of the ZMP freshness index. There were no month-on-month changes for milk and milk products in September. Only cheese was offered 1,5 percent cheaper than in August. In a year-on-year comparison, however, milk and milk products remained almost 3 percent cheaper overall. Butter and milk, in particular, were cheaper in 2008. Only cheese has been 13 percent more expensive so far.
While domestic pork sales are disappointing for local marketers and lagging behind the previous year's figures, exports are booming.