Market concentration increases
Number of pork laughter rose slightly again
The number of slaughter companies has decreased – that is particularly noticeable in regions where not as many animals are kept. And: The tönnies battle giant continues to grow.
For the first time since 2016, the number of pork slaughter in Germany has risen slightly again last year. In 2024, according to the interest group of the pig farmers in Germany (ISN), 44.65 million animals were slaughtered, which was 1.8 percent more than 2023. Between 2016 and 2023 there was a severe decline of 25.8 percent in the slaughterhouse.
The consequences of this decline were also clearly noticeable in the battle industry last year, it said in the ISN slaughterhofer climb that the interest group in Lower Saxony published.
Longer paths for some farmers
For example, slaughterhouses of the Dutch slaughter company Vion were closed or taken over by other companies. For regions in which fewer pigs are bred, such as in Brandenburg or Hesse, longer transport routes to the slaughterhouses and thus a further weakening of the pig farms there are.
According to ISN, the withdrawal from Vion from Germany caused shifts on the market. The distance between the two largest butchers Tönnies and West meat on competitors has grown significantly. According to the ISN, both companies come together to a market share of around 45.1 percent. As a result, Danish Crown is 6.2 percent.
The Federal Information Center Agriculture had already found a slightly increased meat consumption in 2024 in March – favored by the relatively moderate increase in consumer prices.
Four federal states of pig farm burgers
More than two thirds of the pork slaughter took place in the two federal states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the ISN, around 16.72 million pigs were slaughtered in North Rhine -Westphalia last year, which was 2.3 percent more than 2023. In Lower Saxony, it was 13.43 million animals – this was the same.
Another core region of pig farming is located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. According to ISN, Bavaria came to 3.79 million slaughterings (-1.9 percent) and Baden-Württemberg to 3.69 million animals (+2.9 percent). In these four federal states, the focus of German pork generation is 80 percent of the animal stocks.
Tönnies wants to buy earlier vion operation
At the greatest distance, the largest pork slaughterer remains the East Westphalian Tönnies group. The planned takeover of the former Vion slaughterhouse in Crailsheim (Baden-Württemberg) still has to be approved by the Federal Cartel Office. In the event of approval, according to ISN, Tönnies would be the only slaughter company in large parts of Germany with significant locations for both beef and pork.
dpa
Source: Stern
