In this episode of the "Manger, c'est changer le monde" podcast, Soliance Alimentaire consultant Leslie Gousault sheds light on the challenges of slaughter within the meat industry. This key stage, often overlooked, raises questions of regulation, locality, animal welfare and the sustainability of the industry.
Through his expertise, we'll look at the various challenges facing local abattoirs in particular, and discuss how Soliance fits in with these changes, and above all the practical support we can offer our customers.
The first issue in slaughtering is health. We all remember the mad cow crisis, which shook the industry and people's consciences. Today, this stage is subject to major regulatory constraints, aimed at preventing any potential health risk, which more often than not means that farmers are unable to control the slaughter themselves.
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There are two main types of slaughterhouse: those that buy live animals and sell them slaughtered, cut up or processed, and those that provide services, i.e. the animal remains the property of the person (breeder, wholesaler, butcher) bringing it to the slaughterhouse. This person is therefore responsible for marketing the animal.
One of the major trends characterizing slaughtering in France is the concentration of abattoirs. They are gradually being acquired by major industrial players, such as Bigard, who do not provide services and market meat that is usually sold through supermarkets.
In parallel with this concentration, there are still a number of local abattoirs providing services. Their number has fallen significantly over the past thirty years, but there are still around a hundred establishments across France, or one or two in each département.
To keep pace with consumer demand, particularly for "ready-to-eat" products, local abattoirs are also developing more and more cutting and processing activities, offering minced steaks and sausages, for example.
Maintaining local slaughter is a major challenge for the entire local ecosystem. It enables farmers to retain control over the marketing of their animals and to enhance their value, while enabling local distributors, butchers and wholesalers, to differentiate themselves and offer quality meat (from animals of their choice) and local products.
In the absence of local abattoirs, these local outlets would be uncompetitive, as they would be forced to source their meat from distant abattoirs, and thus offer the same meat as that sold in supermarkets, but at a higher price. Ultimately, this would translate into higher costs for consumers and an imminent risk of losing the local retail ecosystem .
In this sense, local slaughtering is a key element in the sustainability of the meat industry's territorial ecosystem.
The prospect of local slaughter also offers undeniable advantages in terms of animal welfare and meat quality. Transporting animals to distant slaughterhouses generates a great deal of stress.
Numerous innovative initiatives are emerging to offer alternatives for improving animal welfare . These include experiments with on-farm slaughtering, mobile abattoirs and slaughter caissons. These methods are currently at the experimental stage, in particular to validate the economic models and health issues involved.
The mobile slaughterhouse, for example, takes the form of a container which travels directly to farmers' premises. This innovative approach enables animals to be slaughtered where they live, eliminating the constraints associated with transport and offering an interesting prospect for animal welfare.
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At Soliance alimentaire, we work on a wide range of slaughtering-related projects. These include opportunity and feasibility studies, as well as strategic support for the animal industry.
One example of this is our collaboration with the French Ministry of Agriculture, where we carried out an evaluation of ongoing experiments on mobile slaughtering.
What's more, in the Haute-Savoie department, which is at the heart of several slaughtering projects, we are carrying out opportunity studies to create new facilities (slaughterhouses, extensions, etc.).
Together with Yvan Six, our slaughterhouse specialist at Soliance Alimentaire, we are currently carrying out a study for the Collectivité de Corse aimed at drawing up anew territorial slaughter scheme . This 360-degree action encompasses a variety of areas, from volume management in slaughterhouses to questions about the seasonality of slaughtering. For example, a slaughterhouse in Haute-Corse, which concentrates the majority of livestock sectors, creates periodic congestion during seasonal peaks in activity. The solution being studied, in consultation with local players, is to set up a quota system, which involves livestock farmers booking appointments online, possibly accompanied by a request for a deposit. The aim of this approach is to regulate slaughtering, improve its organization and efficiency, and consequently increase quality while spreading the activity over the territory. However, this process also raises logistical issues for breeders that need to be addressed!
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Our work with the Collectivité de Corse takes into account aspects of regulation, innovation, economic management, logistics and by-product recovery. This last point is often under-exploited, but of vital importance. Among these by-products, hides can be used in tanneries, and part of the offal, known as the "fifth quarter", offers possibilities for valorization that are often under-exploited.
In addition, slaughter waste can be used for methanization, thus contributing to more sustainable and ecological waste management.
As you will have gathered, slaughtering is an essential yet little-known link in the meat chain. We hope we've shed some light on this fast-changing sector, with its major health and local issues, including respect for animal welfare.
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