In August, Nortura reduced the price of beef by four kroner. Nevertheless, they see that there will be too much meat in stock in the future, and one measure is to slaughter 5,000 calves, in order to have less meat in stock. – 5,000 calves sounds like a lot, but we must not forget that over 300,000 calves are born each year. It is somewhat important that we think about it. That’s what Konrad Kongshaug, county manager of the farmers’ association in Møre og Romsdal, says. He explains that in 2020 they were asked to produce more meat, due to the pandemic. This is what one can now see the result of. – These are long-term productions, the effect we are getting now is planning that was done in 2020. It is not enough to lower the price The critics think we should also lower the price, which Kongshaug thinks will not be enough. – Now it is sometimes the case that the price has been reduced quite a lot, the producer must also have an economy in his production. Konrad Kongshaug is a farmer on Averøya. In addition, he is a leader in the Møre og Romsdal farmer’s association. Photo: Marius Andre Jenssen Stenberg / news At the grocery store Coop Mega, they see that customers prefer the cheaper products now more than before. But if the price of meat were to become even cheaper, Coop does not believe that it would lead to more sales. – It is difficult to say. The health authorities recommend that we eat less red meat, so that if we cut the price, it probably does not mean that we will sell more, says Harald Kristiansen, the communications manager at Coop Norway. Among other things, the store has reduced the price of minced meat and patty, but for now they cannot see a major increase in sales. – But we know that price is very important to our customers. We see that people are more careful about what they put in the shopping basket. Harald Kristiansen is communications manager at Coop Norway. Photo: Espen Solli People prefer the cheapest Too bad economic times lead to people changing their habits at the store too. Many now have cheaper alternatives when it comes to, among other things, meat. – We see a clear need that our customers are looking for the cheapest products. He also points out that they are excited to see if people stop taking the risk of going out to eat at restaurants, and instead cook more at home. As you could see during the pandemic. Dane Cekov is a senior strategist at Nordea, and thinks prices will fall even more. – There is reason to believe that the prices of meat products will continue to fall in the coming months as suppliers want to get rid of the large stocks they are sitting on. Photo: Marius Andre Jenssen Stenberg / news Also taking other measures Slaughtering 5,000 calves is not a measure Konrad Kongshaug wants, but in order to reach the total goal, they must do this, he claims. They also implement a number of other measures to minimize the amount of meat. Among other things, they lowered the weight limit for adult animals. Farmer Finn Roger Trodal would have liked to have seen all his calves grow up and join him out on pasture, but he is optimistic about the situation. – I challenge the consumer to eat a lot of Norwegian food, then this will take care of itself, says Trodal. Farmer Finn Roger Trodal in Averøy. Photo: Marius Andre Jenssen Stenberg / news
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The farmers defend the slaughter of 5,000 calves to get less meat: – Not enough to lower the price
