The increasing domestic appetite for Australian pork combined with a steady growth in demand through Asian export markets like Singapore and China sees many pork processors looking to increase production. The industry can capitalise on these growth opportunities through streamlined processing and supply chain improvements increasing how competitive the Australian pork industry can be. These gains are being realised in automation, chilling regimes and materials handling improvements.
International studies have seen increases in yield through improvements to the chilling regime, as well as improvements in the overall quality of the product with reductions in PSE meats (pale, soft, exudative) and cold shortening. This controlled chilling system is seen to improve the drip loss of carcases adding to the improvements in carcase yields.
Other key drivers are the industry focus on sustainability, and the long term viability of the pork industry as a whole. Many operations are looking to achieve a zero discharge into the local infrastructure by converting their waste streams into usable energy such as biogas. The pork industry has been leading the charge in the biogas space for some years now, going so far as to prepare their own Code of Practice for Biogas Production and Use. Biogas, the by-product of anaerobically treated waste streams, contains more than 60% methane and can be used as an energy source for heating and power generation. Such practices reduce site emissions, increase plant efficiencies resulting in significantly lower operating costs.
Several key benefits can be achieved through the analysis of data relating to the growth and processing of the animals into the highest value proposition for each product type.
As with other food processing and protein industries, the pork industry will benefit from leveraging Big Data to track processing and drive operational efficiency throughout the supply chain. In addition to the economic benefit of using operational data to drive a leaner production process the pork industry can benefit from a cleaner and more transparent delivery of product to the consumer.
Ensuring that the end customer is able to trace the source of their product and its animal welfare and environmental impact from its source to the retail outlet will create trust in the product and the industry. There are range of options for pork producers and processors to provide this data and insight through the supply chain and gain the trust of the market.
The pork industry has unrivaled opportunity to capitalise on the ASEAN market. Streamlining processing and supply chain improvements with the help of data led innovation and industrial automation will help the industry transform to meet rising demand.
Wiley’s involvement in the operational improvements of several pork processing companies, has driven return on investment, and improvement of the quality of the end product.
Talk to Wiley about your pork processing facility today. 1300 385 988 connect@wiley.com.au
