The IFFA CEO Breakfast event brought together industry leaders and innovators for an insightful morning featuring four dynamic presentations. Experts shared valuable perspectives and groundbreaking developments in process technology for meat and alternative proteins, offering actionable insights and showcasing the industry’s future direction.
Highlighting the Red Meat Strategy 2030
Dewald Olivier, Executive Director of Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS), outlined key components of the Red Meat Strategy 2030. His presentation emphasised:
- The commercial value of the red meat supply chain.
- Implementation of a livestock identification and traceability system for beef.
- Safety compliance across all areas of the value chain.
Olivier noted that despite challenges such as FMD, South African beef exports grew to an impressive 42,000 tons by September 2024, driven primarily by beef and lamb products. He identified corned beef as a significant growth opportunity, given increasing global demand from major importers such as the US, Japan, South Korea, China, and Mexico.
He also highlighted opportunities for expanding export markets through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), rising urbanisation, increasing income levels, and infrastructure development.
South African Agricultural Outlook: Challenges and Opportunities
Gerhard van der Burgh, Head of Data Science and Systems Integration at the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Products, shared insights from the South African Agricultural Outlook 2024–2033. Key points included:
- The importance of export-driven growth, as production continues to outpace local demand.
- The critical role of competitiveness in prioritising international markets.
Sustainability in Meat Processing: A Technology-Driven Approach
Christian Schiess, Managing Director of Bizerba Southern Africa, delved into sustainability advancements in meat processing, focusing on three core areas:
- Digitalisation: Utilising IoT, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to lower CO2 emissions, enhance transparency, and minimise overproduction.
- Product Identification and Traceability: Protecting products and brands while ensuring a seamless farm-to-fork journey.
- Remote Maintenance and Automation: Incorporating robotics for improved quality control. Enabling real-time system monitoring, diagnostics, and updates to reduce downtime and enhanced load planning.
Schiess emphasised that integrating these innovations can drive both environmental and operational benefits, establishing a closed-loop system that enhances efficiency and sustainability.
Insights into the South African Pig Industry
Peter Evans, CEO of the South African Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO), provided an overview of the pig industry, comprising 409 producers, 524 units, and 142,155 sows. He noted the geographical distribution of sows, with Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal leading the pack.
Evans addressed challenges such as fluctuating carcass prices and the delicate balance between producer prices and feed costs, highlighting the need for sustainable practices to secure the industry’s future.
IFFA 2025: The Global Platform for Meat and Alternative Proteins
Kerstin Horaczek, Vice President of Technology at Messe Frankfurt, previewed the highly anticipated IFFA 2025, scheduled from 3–8 May 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. As the world’s leading trade fair for innovations in meat and alternative protein technologies, IFFA 2025 is expected to attract 70,000 industry experts from 150 countries.
The event will spotlight cutting-edge solutions in ingredients, processing, packaging, and distribution, with a comprehensive focus on protein technologies. The key themes for IFFA 2025 include:
- Getting Value from Data.
- Researching Next-Level Performance.
- Putting Sustainability into Action.
- Creating Product Variety.
IFFA remains a must-attend event for professionals in the food industry, offering unparalleled networking opportunities and insights into the future of food processing and protein innovation. IFFA takes place every three years. If you would like to learn more about this event, click here: https://iffa.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en.html
