July 2010

The market continues to remain static with prices stable continuing from June. Export volumes have decreased over the last month. Reports from the cattle markets suggest the numbers of cattle passing through have slowed down over the last week. This may well be due to farmers trying to drive prices up through a period of low demand. Prices for all forequarter cuts remain strong which demonstrates the rise in sales for quality burgers and slower cooked beef cuts, such as brisket blocks, bavette steaks and beef feather steaks to name but a few.

 

The presence of the world cup has impacted on steak meat sales, which in turn has kept the prices static. The price for full fillets of beef has eased back due to the lack of its presence on menus. Rib eyes and striploins are now similar in price for imported meat, as they have taken the place of the fillet steak. There is still a shortage of rumps across South America and Africa, which is inflating the price within a market with little demand.

 

 

Prices will remain static through July following on from the sharp increases we incurred in June. The market is starting to recover from the low numbers produced through January and February, brought about by the extreme cold weather and the impact on the numbers of piglets born in each litter.

 

It is worth noting that Pork is the number 1 product on outside meal occasions in the UK across pubs, hotels, contract caters etc with over 1.8 billion meal occasions in last year alone. It is becoming stronger and stronger with more lines on menus than ever before as chefs look to maximise the high GP% that it can create

 

In the UK we have around 8million pigs if we were to be self sufficient on loins alone we would need 20 million pigs to achieve the volume required to service the UK.

 

 

The market has eased back on price over the last month due to a lack of export demand and more numbers going through the markets. Predictions forward are that this will only remain throughout July and prices will start to recover into early August as the export market increases. The diverse nature of lamb cuts now offered on menus has seen prices for lamb shoulders and shanks remain high in a period that would historically have seen little demand thus lower prices.

 

 

Prices remain more expensive than UK lamb, which has not been seen for many years. The major factor is that supermarket promotions on chilled lamb cuts have taken up a large piece of the NEW Zealand export licence volume. The remaining quota for the year is low through until January next year. Please be mindful of this when planning any menu changes for autumn time involving any lamb cuts. Prices being quoted for August from the exporters are circa of a 20% increase on all cuts.

 

 

There is little change in the market with smaller size birds very short due to the volumes committed to the Rotisserie trade in the large multiple supermarkets. The warm weather across Europe has impacted on the shortage of birds with losses higher than expected. Turkey continues to rise in price for the third month in a row due to a shortage of birds across Europe. The strong pound versus the Euro means that duck breast, legs and guinea fowl etc from France are now more competitive in price and should be considered for menu planning.