Heavy pigs, lightweight pigs : sector characteristics and perspectives

Pig farmers will only reorient their production toward heavy or lightweight pigs if they can achieve greater capital gains than with more standard pig production. The pig farmer will only reap benefits if there are sector-specific outlets meeting national and international market demand together with an adapted price grid. The average cold carcass weight is 101.3 kg, which is around 10 kg more than a standard pig. The technological quality, pH, colour and water-holding capacity of the meat are all on a similar par with the average results for standard pigs. In contrast with several other countries in Southern Europe, France does not have a sufficiently strongly-anchored tradition of producing cold pork products to be able to promote and generate added-value on the entire heavy pig carcass. It remains difficult to promote fresh loin pork due to their weight, whereas the fat levels on belly pork are a guarantee of profitable outlets on Asian markets while the hams will be taken by the Italian dry-curing sector.