Pigmeat consumption in the EU is expected to “hold up” during 2015, following on from a year of contrasting developments for consumer purchases across Europe, according to BPEX.
While noting that pigmeat buying patterns in Germany, Italy, France and Spain added up to a distinctly “mixed picture” last year, BPEX said it expected the “ongoing favourable supply and price situation” to help sales in 2015.
“Germany is by far the largest pigmeat market and although the average retail price of fresh pork was down by almost 2% last year, household purchases still fell by 2%,” said BPEX, adding that pigmeat lost market share in Germany to beef in 2014, but not to poultry.
The second largest EU pigmeat market, Italy, saw fresh pork purchases fall by as much as 6% between January and November, despite the retail sector showing no change in prices. Salami purchases in the country bucked this trend, however, rising by 2% on the year.
“In France, household purchases of fresh pork increased by over 1% in response to stable retail prices and, unlike in previous years, took market share from other meats, even poultry meat,” said BPEX.
The Spanish meat market, meanwhile, which was described as “especially difficult” in 2014, suffered a 1% decline in fresh pork sales. That was actually a good performance in relative terms, however, as total meat purchases in Spain were down by 4%.Â