China’s beef industry lags behind, but holds opportunities: Frost & Sullivan
According to the Frost & Sullivan report, China’s beef production is likely to reach 700m tonnes in 2015 at a CAGR of 1.4%. This growth will be driven by improved lifestyles and changing consumption patterns.
However, the analysts noted that in terms of standards, quality and production, the country is significantly lagging behind other global markets and needs reform if it is to develop successfully.
China is in urgent need of integrated leading enterprises working in the upstream and downstream sectors of the beef industry, Frost & Sullivan said.
“The Chinese beef industry can learn from abroad,” and implement the effective integration of farming, processing and sales, the report said.
This will enable control over sourcing and production ensuring better quality to meet domestic and export consumer demands, it added.
Two steps behind…
The beef classifying system, standards, testing and monitoring systems drastically lag behind the global market, Frost & Sullivan said, and therefore, “domestic beef cannot reach the international quality and hygiene standards.”
This is due to few ‘excellent’ cattle species in the country and a poorer level of management throughout the production chain, the report said.
“Even some large-scale meat processing companies in China are without the complete cold chain and can hardly meet international health standards,” it said.
Factory systems in China’s beef industry only represent around 1% of the country’s production, it noted, and “such a low level of modernisation is a larger barrier in the development of the market.”
The market also lacks diversity, it added, with most producers offering a single product portfolio and therefore there is a lack of different tastes.
Government support to boost industry
Frost & Sullivan said supporting policies from Chinese government is expected to drive better supplies of cattle and promote the development of the industry and thus improve the quality and taste of Chinese beef.
Therefore, “beef products and beef consumption is expected to move to a higher development level in China in the next five years,” the report noted.
