The Economic Board of the Meat Market Observatory of the European Commission presented changes in trends in pork consumption by Europeans¹. Analyses by experts show that consumers in EU countries are choosing meat that is increasingly leaner. This is particularly true for pork.

In recent years, Europeans have been paying increasing attention to the fat content of pork consumed. This is reflected in the pork meat offered by producers, which is precisely measured by the SEUROP classification system. The graph presented by the expert during the Meat (MO) sessions shows that since 2010 the share of lass S in the volume of all pork produced has been steadily and significantly increasing. Class S means pork with the highest lean meat content, i.e. more than 60% of the total weight. While in 2010 a little over 30% of carcasses were classified in this way, in

2017 their share increased to almost 60%. The second biggest share is E class meat, i.e. with meat content in the carcass between 55 and 60%. Currently, more than 90% of the pork carcasses on sale are classified as S and E. Such large changes in the meatiness of carcasses over the course of several years is the response of producers to signals coming from the market. Producers are introducing modifications to pig farming, especially in the diet, in order to obtain meat with a lower fat content.

¹ https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/market-observatory/meat/doc/meat-mo-meeting-20181002-summary_en.pdf