Betagro's plans to get a Thai foothold in the global pork market
By Jon Fernquest
Today's
article is a long fact-filled article about a new food export industry,
pork meat, that Thailand is trying to get a foothold in.(Photo above to the right is of a ham with cloves, photo below is of "Betagro’s 324-rai farm in Lop Buri, aimed at tapping the growing demand for hygienic pork products in both local and international markets, is fully SPF-certified, meaning pigs are raised in a controlled, hygienic environment without the use of antibiotics.")
BREEDING SUCCESS
Pork has long been overlooked in Thailand's quest for export supremacy. No longer, now that Betagro has gained a foothold in Hong Kong and set its sights on other markets.By Walailak Keeratipipatpong
21/03/09
Low Thai pork exports
In the food industry, Thailand is second to none when it comes to export volume and diversity of products supplied to the global market.‘‘It is clear that pork and many farm goods remain politically sensitive products for governments and the situation will get worse considering the current crisis Athapol Uraipraiwan Senior vice-president for marketing, B. Foods Product International
The country is the world's largest exporter in many categories: shrimp, rice, chicken, and tuna, and has a number of products that play prominent roles in global trade. Unfortunately, pork is not counted among them.
Thailand's pork exports have a tiny share in the world market, at only 0.2% of the total 5.8 million tonnes of pork and pork products traded worldwide last year.
quest for Y
- search
for Y
export supremacy - export more than than all the other exporters
a foothold - an initial position that can be used to advance further
set its sites on Y - plan to do Y
second to none - the best, no one is better
volume - the quantity or amount of something
diversity - a great variety, many different types
sensitive, politically sensitive - an issue that needs to be dealt with carefully, so that people are not upset or angry
prominent - important and very noticeable
play prominent roles in global trade - be important and well-known in global trade
counted amount them - included with them
market share - the percentage of the customers in a market that a company or country has
a tiny share in the world market - the company or country has a very small percentage of all the customers in the market
export supremacy - export more than than all the other exporters
a foothold - an initial position that can be used to advance further
set its sites on Y - plan to do Y
second to none - the best, no one is better
volume - the quantity or amount of something
diversity - a great variety, many different types
sensitive, politically sensitive - an issue that needs to be dealt with carefully, so that people are not upset or angry
prominent - important and very noticeable
play prominent roles in global trade - be important and well-known in global trade
counted amount them - included with them
market share - the percentage of the customers in a market that a company or country has
a tiny share in the world market - the company or country has a very small percentage of all the customers in the market
Hong Kong: the first target market
The
unimpressive export performance is a challenge for many meat-exporting
companies and one of them is Betagro Group. Looking to
fill the gap,
the agribusiness group began to explore foreign markets last month, with Hong
Kong being the first target."We've prepared for a year to access this free-port market where lots of pork around the world have embarked here," said Athapol Uraipraiwan, senior vice-president for marketing of B. Foods Product International Co, a marketing arm of the group.
looking to Y -
planning to do Y in the future
fill the gap - do something that has not been done before (no company is exporting meat)
free-port market - goods coming into Hong Kong do not pay taxes (duty free)
embark - start doing something, go on board a ship
the marketing arm - the marketing part of the company (versus the production part of the company)
fill the gap - do something that has not been done before (no company is exporting meat)
free-port market - goods coming into Hong Kong do not pay taxes (duty free)
embark - start doing something, go on board a ship
the marketing arm - the marketing part of the company (versus the production part of the company)
"The swine market here has quite a lot of variety, with a wide range of prices all the way from 100 baht a kilogramme to more than 2,000 baht, mainly for premium-grade pork from Japan."
The frozen meat products come from as far away as Brazil. While live pigs from China slaughtered in Hong Kong are available at low prices, branded chilled meat would fetch a higher value.
Betagro is positioning its S-Pure brand for the high-end market, selling the meat for 600 baht per kilogramme at premium supermarkets of Hong Kong such as City, Yata, and Great.
The firm has been trying to promote the product as "half Thai-Japanese meat", to reflect the joint-venture pig business between Betagro Group and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation.
The venture of Betagro and Sumitomo has invested about one billion baht in the past decade in breeding technology, an abattoir and a processing plant to improve the standard of Thai pork.
The two companies had first joined hands in 2003 to invest in a slaughterhouse for pigs bred under the specific-pathogen-free (SPF) system, a breeding technology that helped Sumitomo overcome export barriers 16 years ago, including the notoriousfoot-and-mouth disease that had been haunting the industry for many decades.
Kriengmas Punchai, senior vice-president for swine integration, explained earlier that the SPF breeding pattern aimed to free pigs from possible diseases, starting from raising parent breeders in free-disease zones, far away from other pig farms.
swine
- pigs, having to do
with pigs
premium grade pork - the highest quality of pork meat
branded chilled meat - cold meat with a special name that many know (brand)
fetch a higher value - get a higher price when sold
high-end market - expensive, high quality products
slaughterhouse - a factory for killing animals and cutting the meat up into pieces
pathogen - an organism that can cause disease
pathogen-free - contains no organism that can cause disease
specific-pathogen-free (SPF) system - "SPF animals are special stock of animals that are kept in specific pathogen free facilities under rigorous monitoring system" (Source: Information Sheet)
breeding - keeping animals to have them produce more animals (have babies)
notorious - famous in a bad sort of way
foot-and-mouth disease - a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of animals, including domestic animals such as cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs, occurs in periodic epidemics (See Wikipedia)
premium grade pork - the highest quality of pork meat
branded chilled meat - cold meat with a special name that many know (brand)
fetch a higher value - get a higher price when sold
high-end market - expensive, high quality products
slaughterhouse - a factory for killing animals and cutting the meat up into pieces
pathogen - an organism that can cause disease
pathogen-free - contains no organism that can cause disease
specific-pathogen-free (SPF) system - "SPF animals are special stock of animals that are kept in specific pathogen free facilities under rigorous monitoring system" (Source: Information Sheet)
breeding - keeping animals to have them produce more animals (have babies)
notorious - famous in a bad sort of way
foot-and-mouth disease - a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of animals, including domestic animals such as cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs, occurs in periodic epidemics (See Wikipedia)
Betagro is positioning its S-Pure brand for the high-end market, selling the meat for 600 baht per kilogramme at premium supermarkets in Hong Kong such as City, Yata, and Great.
The breeders deliver piglets via caesarean section, not through normal passage which could subject the offspring to diseases such as dysentery, babesiosis and pseudo-rabies from their parents.
After the process, the company could get SPF piglets and use them as parent breeders.
Betagro is not a new face when it comes to exporting raw pork to Hong Kong. It has for some years been selling the meat in bulk without a brand to fresh market and food services.
To build its brand in Hong Kong, product testing, cooking demonstrations and promotion campaigns are essential in this market, where 6.5 million residents consume about 473,000 tonnes of pork, or about 70 kg per person annually.
caesarean section - surgery
to help a mother give birth (See Wikipedia)
deliver piglets via caesarean section - surgery to help the mother pig give birth to babies
dysentery - severe diarrhea with blood or mucus (See Wikipedia)
pseudo-rabies - the viral pig disease that is endemic in most parts of the world and causes the most damage to pigs (See Wikipedia)
breeders - people who are raising pigs to make more pigs (pigs have baby pigs)
selling the meat in bulk - selling only large quantities of meat
cooking demonstrations - a public show that shows people how to cook
deliver piglets via caesarean section - surgery to help the mother pig give birth to babies
dysentery - severe diarrhea with blood or mucus (See Wikipedia)
pseudo-rabies - the viral pig disease that is endemic in most parts of the world and causes the most damage to pigs (See Wikipedia)
breeders - people who are raising pigs to make more pigs (pigs have baby pigs)
selling the meat in bulk - selling only large quantities of meat
cooking demonstrations - a public show that shows people how to cook
"The response in Hong Kong has been positive and we believe we can achieve 400 to 500 tonnes in sales by year-end," says Mr Athapol.
Other Asian countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Japan are also interesting markets, with a particular focus being on Japan.
Japan, one of the world's biggest markets for pork, currently imports 1.2 million tonnes per year out of the 6 million tonnes that are consumed globally. Russia is the second-largest market, with imports of about 960,000 tonnes.
The United States is the world's biggest pork supplier, with shipments totalling 2.3 million tonnes forecast to be reached in 2009. Europe comes second, at 1.4 million tonnes, and Canada exports about one million tonnes.
Thailand plans to export an insignificant amount of 12,700 tonnes of pork this year, mainly to Hong Kong and Japan.
According to the Thai Swine Raisers Association, Thailand would earn about 1.77 billion baht in export revenue from the exports of about 4,200 tonnes of chilled raw pork in 2009 and 8,500 tonnes of processed meat. The latter would be available in various forms such as pork sausages, ham, bologna and semi-finished foods such as grilled spareribs, shredded pork, and Chinese sausages.
chilled - lower
temperature to make cold, but not to the point of freezing
raw - not cooked
chilled raw pork - cold uncooked pork
processed meat - meat that has been cut, packaged and turned into a product that can be sold in a store
sausages - a prepared food made from ground meat, animal fat, salt, spices, and herbs packed in a tube-like casing, orignally used as a food preservation technique (See Wikipedia)
ham - the thigh and rump of pork, meat from the back end of a pig (See Wikipedia and see photo above)
bologna, baloney - an American sausage made out of chicken, turkey, beef, or pork, found in every 7-11 in Thailand (See Wikipedia)
semi-finished goods - goods that are not ready to be sold in store (still must be processed more in a factory)
grilled - cook with very strong heat underneath, with a flame underneath
pork ribs - a type of food dish popular in North America and Asian cuisine. Pork and bones from a pig's ribcage are cooked by smoking, grilling, or baking together (usually with a sauce, primarily barbecue sauce), and then served (See Wikipedia)
spareribs -a variety of pork ribs, cooked and eaten in various cuisines around the world. They are the most inexpensive cut of pork ribs. They are a long cut from the lower portion of the pig, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and include 11 to 13 long bones. There is a covering of meat on top of the bones as well as between them (See Wikipedia)
shredded - cut into very small narrow pieces
raw - not cooked
chilled raw pork - cold uncooked pork
processed meat - meat that has been cut, packaged and turned into a product that can be sold in a store
sausages - a prepared food made from ground meat, animal fat, salt, spices, and herbs packed in a tube-like casing, orignally used as a food preservation technique (See Wikipedia)
ham - the thigh and rump of pork, meat from the back end of a pig (See Wikipedia and see photo above)
bologna, baloney - an American sausage made out of chicken, turkey, beef, or pork, found in every 7-11 in Thailand (See Wikipedia)
semi-finished goods - goods that are not ready to be sold in store (still must be processed more in a factory)
grilled - cook with very strong heat underneath, with a flame underneath
pork ribs - a type of food dish popular in North America and Asian cuisine. Pork and bones from a pig's ribcage are cooked by smoking, grilling, or baking together (usually with a sauce, primarily barbecue sauce), and then served (See Wikipedia)
spareribs -a variety of pork ribs, cooked and eaten in various cuisines around the world. They are the most inexpensive cut of pork ribs. They are a long cut from the lower portion of the pig, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and include 11 to 13 long bones. There is a covering of meat on top of the bones as well as between them (See Wikipedia)
shredded - cut into very small narrow pieces
But despite the positive outlook, foot-and-mouth disease remains a major export barrier against Thailand's pig industry. The Livestock Development Department is being urged to work harder to explain its work to foreign countries to create a better understanding of the situation as many farm areas are free from the disease.
Worse, producers have paid little attention to processing pork for export but aim to sell only live pigs, in particular to neighbouring countries.
The lack of vision has curbed the potential to add value to the meat and has held back proper development of the local industry.
positive outlook - people
expect good things to happen in the future
export barrier - rules and regulations to prevent an export good entering a country as an import
urged - enouraged people to do, tried to get them to do
paid little attention - didn't notice, look at, or watch very carefully
lack of vision - use little imagination in planning the future
curbed the potential - reduce the possibility of something happening
add value (to a product), value added - the value that processing or a part of a product adds to the total value of the product
export barrier - rules and regulations to prevent an export good entering a country as an import
urged - enouraged people to do, tried to get them to do
paid little attention - didn't notice, look at, or watch very carefully
lack of vision - use little imagination in planning the future
curbed the potential - reduce the possibility of something happening
add value (to a product), value added - the value that processing or a part of a product adds to the total value of the product
Last year, about 181,000 pigs were sold to Cambodia, Laos and Burma for 873 million baht.
Most importantly, producers, mostly small-scale companies, are not ready for new requirements from foreign countries such as animal welfare, food safety and traceability.
"It is clear that pork and many farm products remain politically sensitive products for governments and the situation will get worse considering the current crisis," Mr Athapol added.
small-scale
companies - companies that produce only small quantities
animal welfare - that the animals life does not have too much suffering in it
food safety - the science of making food safe for eating
traceability - being able to find out where a piece of food has been, the steps it has gone through all the way back to its origins (so if there is a problem, can find out where the problem happened)
animal welfare - that the animals life does not have too much suffering in it
food safety - the science of making food safe for eating
traceability - being able to find out where a piece of food has been, the steps it has gone through all the way back to its origins (so if there is a problem, can find out where the problem happened)
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 21/03/09, BREEDING SUCCESS, Walailak Keeratipipatpong, link)
