According to preliminary results, commercial slaughterhouses in Germany produced almost 3.3 million tons of meat in the first half of 2023. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this was 5.9% less than in the same period of the previous year. Notably, 9.4% less pork was produced than in the first half of 2022.
The news comes as the latest in a series of developments demonstrating the increase in plant-based and the decrease of conventional meat in the country, whose population is around 83 million. As we reported this May, in 2022, German companies produced 6.5% more meat alternatives compared to the previous year, and production increased by an impressive 72.7% compared to 2019. Aside from declining meat consumption, it was also revealed this week that Germany has the highest turnover and market potential for milk alternatives in Europe.
2.2 million fewer pigs slaughtered
In the first six months of this year, German farms slaughtered 21.6 million pigs. This corresponds to a decrease of around 2.2 million animals slaughtered (-9.2%) compared to the previous year. Already in the first half of 2022, the decline compared to the same period of the previous year was 8.9%. Pork production has been declining steadily since 2017.
The amount of pork produced in H1 2023 was 2.1 million tons, down 9.4% on the same period last year (-213,000 tons). One reason for the declining pork production is the likewise declining pig stocks in Germany. This is leading to increased imports: at 20.9 million pigs, the number of animals of domestic origin slaughtered fell by 10.0% (previous year: 23.2 million). The 741,300 pigs of foreign origin slaughtered represent an increase of 19.6% compared to the same period last year, when 619,700 pigs were slaughtered from abroad. The proportion of pigs of foreign origin in the total number of pigs slaughtered was 3.4% (same period in the previous year: 2.6%).
In the first half of 2023, companies in Germany slaughtered a total of 353.3 million animals of various types of poultry, 2.7% fewer than in the same period of the previous year. At around 770,900 tons, poultry meat was produced in the first half of 2023, 0.1% less than in the same period last year (-760 tons).
Raging pigs
Despite the significant declines since 2017, pork has accounted for the largest share of commercial meat production in Germany for years. In the first half of 2023, 62.0% of the meat produced came from slaughtered pigs. This was followed by poultry meat with a share of 23.2% and beef with 14.5%. The meat from sheep, goats, and horses accounted for only around 0.4% of the total production.
Clearly, there is work still to be done. One of the German companies working to remove pigs from the food chain is the Raging Pig Co, a producer of vegan bacon and other alternative pork products, “on a mission to remove 1.5 billion pigs from our global food system.”
Raging Pig told vegconomist recently that it has “sold more than 100,000 Raging Bacon slices last year alone, with overwhelming feedback from end consumers spanning from dedicated vegans to hardcore meat lovers as well as leading chefs.”
Speaking to the brand’s mission and where it envisions itself in the coming years, Dr. Arne Ewerbeck stated that he sees “Raging Pig as one of the leading plant-based brands worldwide has helped to remove millions and millions of pigs from the global food system and plays an important role in the transformation of our future food system, both from a product and educational standpoint. We’re not afraid to utilize pop culture and humor and we’re catering to everyone, no matter if you’re vegan or a meat lover.”
Further information on the German statistics can be found at www.destatis.de.
