A typical pork value chain involves many entities including suppliers of genetics and feed stuffs, the pig producer, the meat processing company and the retailer with the consumer being the end target.

Dr Andrzej Sosnicki, the director of performance validation with PIC, says the key objective of the value chain is fullfil consumer demands so the value chain needs to focus more on developing value the consumer can recognise.

Dr Andrzej Sosnicki-PIC

Looking at the current trends moving probably up to even 2020 there will be lots of changes in meat processing procedures and there will be less salt, less phosphates, less processessing, the use of natural processing ingredients, natural salts, celery salts, extracts from different vegetables to really cope with the desirability of the consumer for heathier foods.

If you look at the key purchasing trends taste is one of the driving forces, taste combined with the price.

If the consumer buys our product and that product is served to the family, to the friends and the taste including tenderness and juiciness, overall eating experience is there the consumer will come back and purchase the same product.

If that first experieince fails even the lower price will not matter.

They will switch and try to look for something else.

Again, looking at the large processing companies across the Americas, the quote is "taste is the king, price is the queen" or you can reverse that.

Dr Sosnicki says, to maintain sustainability, members of the pork value chain will need to ensure the consumer is informed about the value of the products being produced, inclduing the health value and the nutritional value.