Key Trends in the Meat Processing Industry

— How does the trend towards a healthy lifestyle affect the MEAT processing industry? 

- Well, in fact, the trend towards a healthy lifestyle is supported, among other things, by industry enterprises, by all participants. All manufacturers understand its importance. But sometimes, unfortunately, there are distortions. In particular, meat products often fall victim to campaigns that, unfortunately, are aimed at discrediting them. The reasons are clear: finished meat products do contain SALT , where would we be without it. But since salt is a preservative, it is not always possible to seriously reduce its content. Products contain fat, but again, fat is also a conductor of taste, and fat is also necessary for our body.

There is a nutrition matrix that shows that animal fat is necessary for the normal functioning of the body, because the diet must be varied and people must eat the whole range of foods in order to get the full range of nutrients. But, unfortunately, the world's leading institutions in the field of forming the foundations of a healthy lifestyle, for a healthy diet, mainly have in mind products of plant origin. 

- Due to the fact that WHO warns against excessive consumption of fatty meat, what products, what options does the meat processing industry offer? What kind of product can it be according to WHO recommendations?

First of all, the key word here is "excessive". We are just faced with such a fundamental thesis, which was voiced by Paracelsus in the Middle Ages, that there are no medicines, no poisons, there are only doses.

We should not just talk about the consumption of harmful or useful products, which is wrong in principle, but we need to talk about moderate consumption, about the formation of a culture of consumption in principle.

You can give a textbook example: everyone knows the benefits of carrots. But, if you eat a bucket of carrots, then the person will simply turn yellow, because the body cannot cope with so many substances that need to be processed. Thus, here, first of all, preventive information campaigns are needed, aimed at forming among the population precisely the foundations of such dosed consumption, from the point of view of the entire diet.

Today, unfortunately, the diet of most Russians is oversaturated with carbohydrates with a lack of protein intake, important vitamins and microelements. When the food is varied, when it contains both fatty and non-fat, and sweet, and salty, but when all this is balanced, then this will be more correct than if something is missing, as if we completely abandon some product or element. 

As for production strategies, we discussed at the round table, which was held on June 21 in  St. Petersburg as part of the international forum "Intekprom: advanced solutions for meat processing", possible options for action and the creation of new products.

Firstly, it is really necessary to unite within the framework of an association in order to be able to jointly pursue a certain information policy. On the other hand, it is worth paying attention to the market of functional products, because, after all, now state regulation is on the way that the population needs more fortified products with desired nutritional characteristics. Perhaps, it is worth thinking about the release of products for losing weight in the spirit of “eat sausage and lose weight” - such options were also discussed at the conference and at our round table. It can also be a line of products for patients with a certain type of diabetes, or, for example, products for children with dietary restrictions - mom is happy to diversify their menu. And if a certain product is recommended specifically for the nutrition of such a population group,

The problem is that all these innovations are associated with certain difficulties - these are certain technological conditions, and state registration, and individual standards, including those for raw materials, and confirmation of product characteristics. That is, indeed, this is not an easy story, and we may now face the fact that, on the one hand, it is stated that it is necessary to release functional products and that the market is gradually being formed for them, on the other hand, using the example of what happened with children's sausage products, we see that investors may lose interest in the production of such specialized products. 

- What happened to sausage products intended for children?

- Since 2021, a new SanPiN regulation on the organization of children's nutrition has come into force, one of the applications of which contains a list of recommended products for compiling children's diets in children's educational organizations, and the other contains a list of prohibited ones. The list of prohibited foods contains only raw smoked meat products and  sausages .

The list of allowed products previously included children's boiled sausages. It was a specialized product, not a mass product. It was made according to special standards, separate standards were applied to raw materials. Such products were characterized by a reduced salt content, were enriched with additional vitamins, elements, including iodine. But with the adoption of the new SanPiN, she did not make it to the list of recommended ones. She did not get, I must say, on the list of prohibited products, but this state of affairs was perceived by those organizations that buy food for children in organized groups as a complete ban . Producers of such food are faced with the fact that shipments simply got up. 

I have already voiced this situation more than once at the site of the Federation Council. There are recommendations that Rospotrebnadzor is still instructed to consider the possibility of returning these children's products back to the list of recommended ones, but this issue has not yet been resolved.

— What could be the consequences of regulating the production of products with a salt content exceeding a certain level (2.5 g)?

— The initiative to introduce an excise tax on products with a high content of SUGAR and salt is absolutely not new, this idea has been around for many years. In one form or another, this has already been discussed since 2018 for sure. Another thing is how it corresponds to reality and common sense. On the one hand, we now see that an excise tax of 7 rubles has been introduced on sweet drinks, in which the sugar content exceeds 5 grams per 100 ml of drink. But for the industry, this has sad consequences for those investors who planned big projects, big investments .and this state of affairs will definitely affect the final price of the product. Moreover, this additional regulation, additional reporting, of course, all these factors will be included in the price of the final product for the consumer. On the other hand, the soft drink industry has achieved a large number of exemptions. Neither fermented drinks, the same kvass, nor juices, nor fruit drinks fell under the excise tax. That is, the agenda was worked out very competently. 

When we talk about products with a high salt content, this is also a double-edged sword: firstly, salt is a natural, preservative, and we cannot reduce the salt content, seriously reduce it, without losing certain qualities and without losing shelf life, so we need to work with this regulation very carefully. 

Different countries have different approaches to this projectile. In Germany, they eat a lot of sausages, and in developed countries in general, if we look at the actual consumption of meat per capita is even higher than ours, even though we are talking about an indicator of 79 kg per capita consumption, which we have recorded this year and plan to 80 next year. There are countries where they consume 100 kg or more, while they have an enviable life expectancy, because life expectancy depends on many factors. The nutrition system is certainly of great importance, but this is not the only factor that affects  HEALTH.man and his lifespan. It is important to take into account the environmental factor, the possibility of access to clean drinking water, working conditions, stress levels, smoking, ALCOHOL consumption, how balanced the diet is in principle.

And here we are faced with the other side of the issue: how much a person has enough resources to provide a balanced diet. How far can the average person living in the region afford to eat fish with the whole family 3 times a week? It turns out that they eat what is available: vegetable oil , bread, cereals, pasta. Of course, it is easier to moderate the situation with bans. But this situation is quite serious, it must be considered not one-sidedly, but from different angles, otherwise you can become a hostage to this one-sided view and again adjust something in the wrong  direction  . 

Is it possible to preventively change the recipe of products, adapting in advance to possible changes in the legislation regarding salt content?

- We previously worked with the V. M. Gorbatov Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems on the possibility of replacing fat, when natural fat of animal origin was replaced with a chemical compound. But then it became clear to everyone that the label would increase by 3 times, moreover, studies do not yet confirm the correctness and usefulness of such a replacement. It’s not a fact that it’s worth trying to replace animal fat with some kind of chemical cocktail. 

Here, too, as soon as we talk about any change in the recipe, many questions arise. Recipes have been verified over the years, and salt reduction is possible only within the limits in which it is regulated for the same children's sausage products. But again, the question arises of how accustomed the consumer will be to this, because when creating new tastes, culture must first be formed, the market should be formed. After all, if one thing is replaced, a person gets it in another. That is, this is a long-term game, at the moment all products cannot be made without salt, it simply will not be in demand by the consumer. If you change the compositions, then you should do it gradually. The important point, I repeat, is that salt is one of the most powerful preservatives in our industry, so you need to be very careful here. 

— What are the trends for the coming year for the products of the meat processing industry?

- According to experts, in general, the consumer basket in terms of filling with meat finished products will remain approximately the same. Depending on the region, there are different taste preferences, somewhere they like it spicier, somewhere not so spicy, somewhere they like liver products more, somewhere they don’t, but in general, the assortment will probably not change much. Questions about raw materials remain, because the epizootic situation in our country continues to be tense.

Depending on which raw material will be more represented on the market at an affordable price, the assortment matrix will also be slightly adjusted. At the same time, there are successful cases in the industry, launching new products on the market that were not previously present on the market at all, for example, chebupels. Of course, much will depend on the geopolitical stop. We see that recently more and more citizens are saving on eating out, more and more our buyers are aiming at buying semi-finished products and cooking at home. 

- What is your position on the division of products into harmful and useful? 

“It is precisely such a division into harmful and useful products that should not be, a person should have an understanding of the need for a varied diet, moderate consumption of products of various categories.