Meat industry

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the magazine of the same name, see Fleischwirtschaft (magazine) .

As meat industry refers to an industry of the manufacturing sector of the food industry , mainly with the slaughter and meat processing busy. In addition, the cattle collection, the cattle trade and the wholesale of the products are also included in some cases . It encompasses both commercial production in craft and industry. Colloquially, the branch of industry is also referred to as the meat industry .

Sub-areas in the European Union

Due to the long tradition in different regions of the world, strongly differing views on the allocation or exclusion of subordinate economic sectors have emerged. In the European Union , the economic sectors are classified according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE). “Slaughtering and meat processing” is part of the manufacturing industry there . It is divided into:

• Slaughter of poultry
• Slaughter of other animals
• Meat processing

In individual countries, the companies in the sector have come together to form interest groups. In Germany, the Association of the Meat Industry (VDF) has stipulated that companies from the following areas are also included:

• Cattle capture
• Meat packaging for the end consumer,
• Meat wholesale
• Foreign trade with livestock and meat

Further processing stages such as the production of ready meals and convenience foods other than those mentioned are counted among other branches of industry.

Slaughter of poultry

This area includes:

• Operation of slaughterhouses in which poultry is slaughtered, trimmed and packaged
• Production of fresh or frozen poultry meat in single portions
• Skipping poultry fats
• Extraction of feathers and down

Slaughter of other animals

This area includes:

• Operation of slaughterhouses in which meat is slaughtered and meat is dressed and packaged: cattle , pigs , lambs, mutton , camels , etc.
• Production of fresh and frozen meat, in carcases and pieces
• Slaughter and processing of whales on land or on dedicated fishing vessels
• Extraction of hides and hides , including bristle hair and hair , in slaughterhouses
• Skipping bacon and other edible animal fats
• Processing of slaughterhouse waste
• Production of hide wool

Meat processing

This area includes:

• Manufacture of dried , salted or smoked meat
• Production of meat products such as: sausage , pies , meat products in aspic , lard and other canned meat , cooked ham

Reputation of various branches of industry: The meat industry has a "bad reputation" (University of Göttingen)

Key figures

The information on the industry fluctuates greatly, as the recording methods are partly based on the amount of animal products intended as food for consumption , but the slaughter weight of live animals is also recorded. The following key figures come from the 2014 Meat Atlas of the Heinrich Böll Foundation , a party-affiliated foundation of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in Germany.

Animals slaughtered worldwide (2011)

Animal species	Number (million heads)
Chicken	58.110
Ducks	2,817
Pigs	1,383
Turkeys	654
Geese and guinea fowl	649
Sheep	517
Goats	430
Bovine	296
buffalo	24

Worldwide meat production 2013 (forecast)

Animal species	Weight in million tons
Pigs	114.2
poultry	106.4
Bovine	68.1
Domestic sheep / domestic goat	13.8
total	308.2

See also

• Animal production
• Meat product
• meat consumption

Web links

Katja Iken: "Loud squeaks, grim grunts, excruciating whimpers". Cradle of the meat industry (Chicago). Spiegel.de, June 27, 2020 (accessed June 29, 2020)

literature

• Achim Spiller, Birgit Schulze (ed.): Future perspectives of the meat industry. Consumers, markets, business relationships . Universitätsverlag, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-940344-13-7 (available as PDF (5.1 MB) ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Online version of NACE. In: RAMON . Eurostat , accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Code C10.12: Slaughter of poultry. In: NACE via RAMON. Eurostat, accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Code C10.11: Slaughter (excluding poultry). In: NACE via RAMON. Eurostat, accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Code C10.13: Meat processing. In: NACE iva RAMON. Eurostat, accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
5. ↑ University of Göttingen, Albersmeier & Spiller, The reputation of the meat industry: On the importance of a cross-level perspective , 2009
6. ↑ Meat Atlas 2014. (PDF; 3.61 MB) Heinrich Böll Foundation , January 8, 2014, accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Meat Atlas 2014. (PDF; 3.61 MB) Heinrich Böll Foundation , January 8, 2014, p. 19 , accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Meat Atlas 2014. (PDF; 3.61 MB) Heinrich Böll Foundation , January 8, 2014, p. 10 , accessed on November 15, 2015 .