Organic pork in Germany

Abstract

In Germany, the market share of organic meat (pork, beef, poultry, etc.) is less than 1.8% and organic pork meat is even lower. In 2016, the total production volume of organic pork amounted approximately to 250,000 slaughtered pigs, whereas in the conventional sector, nearly 60 million pigs are slaughtered every year. The German self-sufficiency degree in organic pork meat varies over the years and was around 70–75% in 2016. This lack of organic pork meat is covered by imports mainly from Denmark and The Netherlands. Thanks to a growing demand, German producers of organically fattened pigs can rely on stable and high prices compared to conventional fluctuating prices. This is one of the reasons why German production of organic pork is continuously growing since 2015. Regarding slaughterhouses and processors for organic pork, there are six main players in Germany dealing with three fourth of the total volume plus a series of small to medium-sized companies, slaughtering organic pigs 1 or 2 days per week. Most of the production is commercialized through organized value chains with long term contracts made with specialized organic producers’ organizations. Organic pork is offered to consumers through all kind of distribution channels, including direct selling. Organic pork outperforms its conventional reference along most of the sustainability indicators assessed in this chapter. The two notable exceptions are exports, as Germany is not self-sufficient in organic pork, and water pollution from nitrates: While organic pork production is less polluting on an area basis, its lower productivity implies a larger discharge of nitrogen per ton of meat.