What are challenges of the pork chain?
Specialization, consolidation, and intensification have driven the pork chain for decades. The different parts of the value chain have optimized their part of the chain, mainly from an economic perspective. The entire chain has been suffering from suboptimization over the whole chain, supply-demand swings, disease outbreaks, and growing societal concerns.
The world’s appetite for pork is still growing, as the population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion people by 2050. In addition, the world’s per capita pork consumption is also growing. Figuring out how to best meet this growing demand—while also considering advancement of rural development, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and protection of valuable ecosystems—is one of the greatest challenges of our era. But we can’t just produce more pork in the same way, we must also be aware of our environmental impact and make the right ethical choices when raising pigs.
The challenges the pork chain faces have multiple facets. Economic volatility, social questions, and environmental pressure are all areas where the pork production system can be optimized. Delivering high-quality pig genetics is our main contribution to solving the pork chain challenges. But we also aim to contribute to economic, social, and environmental solutions. By understanding the issues, we can find the right solutions and address producers’ and consumers’ concerns.
