Pork consumption in Brazil: challenges and opportunities for the Brazilian pork production chain

Abstract

1 Credence attributes are content or process attributes that are difficult for the consumer to detect during or after food consumption (e.g. calcium-added, country-of-origin, organic or preferred processing techniques). Instead, consumers have to trust the information and information sources that claim or certify the credence character of the good. AbstractIn spite of being the world's most consumed meat, pork ranks only third in Brazil, with a consumption level much lower than that of poultry and beef. Although consumption of fresh pork meat has been increasing in recent years, 67.9% of the Brazilian pork consumption is based on processed pork products. Despite the chain's many technological improvements in recent years, producers and industry are not yet focused on innovation nor on informing and captivating the new millennium's consumer. Brazil is a country of continental dimensions and recent changes in the economic status of the population have created a favourable environment for the development of new pork products. This study investigates consumers' eating habits, preferences and satisfaction using data collected from a survey among 482 consumers as part of the Q-PorkChains project in Brazil. Results indicate that consumers prefer fresh (not frozen) products and the supermarket is their preferred distribution channel. Pork products are consumed mostly at home, with family, on any day of the week. Consumers are generally satisfied with the products available in the market, although health aspects, convenience and price could be improved. Overall, the interviewed pork consumers in Brazil signal opportunities for the pork chain in terms of innovation and new product development.

Procedural Priorities of the Pork Loin Supply Chain

“…The majority of respondents preferred rib cut, followed by pork loin. Most consumers choose chilled pork loin, and prefer to purchase it at supermarkets and hypermarkets ( Figure 1); this supports the research conducted by Barcellos et al, (2011b).…”

“…It was also identified that consumers consider respect for animal welfare practices to be important, as well as strategic actions applied to improve product image related to the trust and safety of the food. Barcellos et al (2011b) stated that understanding pork consumer's perceptions creates opportunities to improve and develop new products in the supply chain.…”

“…Negative perceptions related to sanitary concerns affect the consumption of pork due to the lack of origin information and cultural issues (Faria et al, 2006;Bezerra et al, 2007;Farias et al, 2012). Pork consumption is also affected by new requirements related to certification, traceability, animal welfare, sustainability of production systems (Verbeke et al, 2010;Barcellos et al, 2011a), the practicality and convenience of the product (Barcellos et al, 2011b), and healthrelated consuming habits (Grunert, 2006).…”

Ractopamine: analytical method validation; and the detection in loin, tissues and urine of pigs fed meat and bone meal containing this growth promoter

“…Brazil has good scope to continue to grow in the global pork market once it has advanced productive supply chains, the pork exporters embrace hightechnology processing and total control in processes for the production of high-quality meat. Highquality, industrial production (as opposed to subsistence production) has increased and accounts for 90% of overall Brazilian pork production (Barcellos et al 2011).…”

“…States, where the majority of production takes place representing nearly 70% of the pig slaughter and 80% of pork exports according to estimates by ABPA (2017). There are no official statistics, but it can be estimated that 88% of the technologically advanced pig farms are vertically connected to contracts or prize programs from agri-food industries and cooperatives (Barcellos et al 2011). This is dominant in the Southern region, but is also growing in the Southeast and Central-West regions, which have recently developed as pork production regions.…”