THE DEMAND for “proper pork” took a nosedive last year.
And this year is also shaping up to be just as challenging with the island’s meat processing plant HIPAC slashing its contract prices to pig farmers.
This was revealed by Anthony Sobers, president of the Barbados Pig Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd, at its annual general meeting at its Tweedside Road, St Michael headquarters on Saturday.
Sobers said that last year the pork industry had its challenges “as supply of pigs exceeded demand and the market seemed to contract”.
In addition, he said it appeared that more people got into the business of pig farming, adding at least 200 more pigs to the market.
Furthermore, towards the end of last year the processing company responsible for buying pigs from the farmers cut its rates.
“Hipac reduced their contract price to 10.45 per kilogramme or 4.77 cents per pound for January to December 2014,” said Sobers, adding that the co-op society was “back and back and forth” in negotiations before the old contract eventually expired.
HIPAC, Sobers added, presents 55 per cent of all the pigs the co-op sells.
Another blow to the pig industry, said Sobers, was the loss of the “Golden Sands market” which, he said, pumped almost $6 000 into the industry.
As a result, the president noted the co-op must now be creative and find new retail markets for its pigs.
“People still love their pork and will still buy pork but it’s the volume.
“We might have to get into other investments in terms of marketing the pork across Barbados. We’re looking for locations across Bridgetown where we would cut up here [at Tweedside Road] and
market in those areas,” Sobers explained.
He revealed the society had instituted a penalty, against farmers, for providing undersized pigs in an attempt to satisfy its HIPAC market.
“If you send through ten pigs and two were small you weren’t penalised,” he explained. “But if you send through ten pigs and three were small you were penalised. A lot of small pigs go into the tail end of the market; the larger pigs go into the HIPAC market, so we were getting more small pigs and we could not fulfil the HIPAC market.”
Many of those small pigs were returned and resulted in wastage.
“So we prefer to get the HIPAC side, use the HIPAC market and use what is returned for the fresh pork market.”
Sobers further said the economic downturn and lay-offs would also have an impact on pig farmers, with consumers having to make the choice of “should I buy two tins of sardines or ten pounds of pork”.
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