Brazil's poultry and pork industries lost between $250 million and $300 million in revenues

Brazil's poultry and pork industries lost between $250 million and $300 million in revenues due to the temporary blockage of Brazilian meat purchases by dozens of countries after corruption probe Operation Weak Flesh was revealed in March, but the sector is already recovering, according to the Association of Brazilian Animal Protein (ABPA).Most of the countries have resumed imports of Brazilian meat, while countries representing 0.4 percent of total Brazilian poultry and pork meat exports still maintain the block, ABPA confirmed in an email to Meatingplace.“Even after facing the most serious crisis this year in the history of the image of our product, of our sector, we are taking big steps to reach this month another export record,” said Francisco Turra, president of ABPA, during the opening of SIAVS international poultry and pork show in São Paulo last week.Brazilian poultry exports totaled 416,800 tonnes in August, the highest number for a month this year and the third highest level ever achieved by the sector, according to data released by ABPA on Monday (04). Poultry exports are still down 2.3% through the first eight months of this year in comparison with the same period in 2016, at 2.9 million tonnes, but ABPA expects to reverse that downward trend between now and December.Representatives of the Brazilian poultry and pork industry defended the quality of the meat produced in the country during SIAVS, adding that the sector is already recovering from the impact of the investigation on a corruption scandal involving sanitary inspectors and some meat processing companies.Brazil's minister of Agriculture Blairo Maggi said the country's meat industry has advanced after the Weak Flesh probe, and that the Ministry of Agriculture is undergoing a process of internal reorganization.“I want to believe that in the not-too-distant future we will look at this moment of Operation Weak Flesh and say that it was good that it happened,” Maggi said. The episode prompted the industry and the ministry to rethink and improve its practices, he added.“Within a very short time” the ministry will present its results of the reorganization process, Maggi noted. One of the changes is focused in guaranteeing that there is no political interference in the technical processes of product quality control.Distorted perceptionGilberto Tomazoni, JBS' global president of operations, said in another SIAVS panel that the global meat industry has become more efficient and sustainable over the years, but still needs to improve communications to change the consumer perception.“Our challenge is to provide information to the consumer so that he understands how safe our products are,” he said during a SIAVS presentation.A large percentage of the world's consumers believe that meat production is not environmentally sustainable and that the industry is not concerned about animal welfare, based on information disseminated by documentaries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Tomazoni said.As an example, he mentioned that in Brazil consumer perception is that the agribusiness sector is dominated by large corporations, while in reality Brazil has 130,000 small producers. “We cannot have this perception gap,” he said.Animal protein consumption will increase as world population grows, and one challenge for meat companies will be raising production to meet demand efficiently while urbanization expands and rural populations decrease.Increased demand for organic and cage-free animal items is an opportunity to add value to meat products, but investment in technology and innovation will be required to make production more efficient, Tomazoni added.“Credit lines for investment in farms is fundamental,” he said, adding that high taxes in Brazil sometimes prevent producers from investing, and that social sustainability should also be considered. “We need our producers to be sustainable and able to be competitive.”