Prices margins and costs in the meat industry : analysis from the French Observatory of food prices and margins, 2011 to 2014[Le suivi des prix, des coûts et des marges dans les filières viandes : Analyses de l’Observatoire de la Formation des Prix et des Marges des produits alimentaires entre 2011 et 2014]

Increased production prices in the meat sector in 2012 and 2013 were transmitted to consumers through industrial and commercial practices depending on products and the year. Thus, the impact of these increases were not completely felt in the beef meat and cooked ham industry in 2012, but were amplified in that of fresh pork meat during the same period. In 2013, they were also amplified in the beef and pork meat sectors. In 2014, the decrease in bovine and pork meat prices were only partially felt by consumers since the industry improved its gross margins and even its net earnings. A survey of the industry from 2011 to 2013 or 2014 shows, however, structural weaknesses of the net earnings for slaughter-meat cutting. The net earnings were equal to 1% of production in the bovine sector during the period. This rate was slightly greater in slaughter-meat cutting of poultry, but decreased as a result of an increase in raw materials in 2012; they were almost null for slaughter-meat cutting of pork meat. The rate of the net earnings of the meat processing industry, at an average of 2%, decreased strongly in 2012 with an increase of raw materials. From 2011 to 2013, the fresh food departments of average and large supermarkets showed negative net earnings in the butcher department (-1.5% over a three year period), positive in the poultry and the processed meat departments (+8%). The consolidation of the three departments "fresh meat products" of the average and large supermarkets (butcher, processed meats, poultry) had 4% average net earnings in 2013, greater than those of the fresh food departments (2%) and the total hypermarket and supermarket sectors (1%) as defined by the INSEE.