https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/find-connect/projects/bovine-beef-innovation-network-europe
Introduction to the challenge adressed
This good practice may interest several type of beef cattle farms with different breeds. The husbandry of the cattle is species-appropriate but not necessarily organic. If possible the cattle lives on pasture during the summer time. The feed is largely produced by the farm itself. Gentle handling of the animals is also important to reduce stress.
Description of the Good Practice
The principle of the company is to only slaughter an animal if it's already sold by 100%. The company’s name is “Grutto” and is located in Bavaria (south Germany). Customers can place online orders for different parts of meat. If a whole cow is sold, the cow is slaughtered, processed and the order is delivered. Another principle is to really sell the whole cow in order to prevent waste. "From snout to tail" is the slogan. So you don't order only shear meat but also processed products like sausages. This ensures a very sustainable production of meat and meat products. The animals are slaughtered at small selected slaughterhouses nearby to reduce stress. Also the price is fair for consumers and farmers likewise, as there are no intermediaries. Consumers like the 100% transparency as they know exactly which farmer raised the cow they get their meat from. On the whole this is a very interesting project for farmers and consumers who care about animal welfare, transparency, fairness and sustainability.
Impact on farm performance
The challenge for farmers attending the programme was to sell their high-quality products for fair prices. They all invest much work and time to give their animals the best husbandry possible but that comes to a certain price. The goal is for customers to value animal welfare by buying meat they know the origin and are willing to pay a bit more than in the supermarket.
Only farmers who guarantee a certain standard in animal welfare and species-appropriate husbandry are allowed in the program. The idea is to guarantee a very good meat quality because the animals have less stress due to short transportations to slaughterhouses.
The production, slaughtering and processing of animals need a lot of resources like water and electricity. This is supposed to be handled more sustainable by only slaughtering the animals which are already completely sold.
The challenge for farmers attending the programme was to sell their high-quality products for fair prices. They all invest much work and time to give their animals the best husbandry possible but that comes to a certain price. The goal is for customers to value animal welfare by buying meat they know the origin and are willing to pay a bit more than in the supermarket.
Only farmers who guarantee a certain standard in animal welfare and species-appropriate husbandry are allowed in the program. The idea is to guarantee a very good meat quality because the animals have less stress due to short transportations to slaughterhouses.
The production, slaughtering and processing of animals need a lot of resources like water and electricity. This is supposed to be handled more sustainable by only slaughtering the animals which are already completely sold.
The farms are visited before they are allowed to attend the program and are regularly monitored if they fulfil the agreement. The farmers get reasonable prices for their products and know exactly that no parts of their animals is going to be wasted. This is a great value of their work.
Farmer comment
We are able to visit the slaughterhouses where our animals are going to be slaughtered. It is nice to know that your animals are treated well until the slaughtering and during that process and to get a higher value for your work.