Meat

Marel's presence in the meat value chain

Deboning and trimming are an essential part of secondary meat processing. StreamLine is a trailblazer in the move toward Industry 4.0, bringing the control and insight needed for continuous improvement. Traditionally, trimming is performed along a manual line involving several workers, making it difficult to track and measure how well raw material is being utilized.

The new StreamLine 457 for trimming is an intelligent trimming line solution that offers processors unparalleled control over their operations. The valuable insight and production data it provides allow processors to adapt quickly and increase their throughput with key performance indicators such as yield, throughput and quality. StreamLine 457 also ensures full traceability throughout the process, from raw material receipt to dispatch.

As labor costs and scarcity continue to rise, improving worker efficiency and comfort has never been more crucial. StreamLine 457’s compact and ergonomic design makes it an intelligent solution for beef steak cutters of all sizes seeking to increase productivity by supporting employee wellbeing while minimizing conversion costs.

Deboning methods are increasingly evolving from manual to automated. The DeboFlex Primal Cut and Middle is the newly released solution from Marel for primal cutting and middle deboning of pork, completing the DeboFlex series and automating full carcass cutting. By incorporating the proven DeboFlex solution in their production, pork processors can anticipate higher capacity and yield.

The principal feature of the DeboFlex is hanging deboning, which makes the process more efficient by increasing the operator’s time spent trimming and cutting, instead of pushing and pulling products. Operators perform a single action before the product moves along the line, simplifying the task and resulting in higher yield and lower labor costs. The innovative design provides a better working environment for employees, ultimately delivering a higher-quality product with a longer shelf-life.

The increasing consumer demand for prepackaged convenience products has made accurate, flexible portioning solutions more vital than ever for the global meat industry. This applies equally to processors supplying retail and foodservice, and traditional butcheries.

Marel has a long history of delivering world-class portion-cutting solutions, and with the recent bolt-on acquisitions of MAJA and TREIF, we now offer butchers and meat processors the most extensive and versatile portfolio on the market.

Our equipment can meet any portioning or slicing requirement, from fixed-sized strips, slices, dices, cubes and splits to high-value uniform portions of fixed weight, length and thickness. This helps food processors enhance performance and boost productivity.

The primary pork processing industry continues to prioritize automation to combat scarce labor resources and improve operator wellbeing. At the same time, ongoing concerns about food safety, such as the threat of African swine fever, remain a critical issue.

Marel’s industry-leading automation of primary processing delivers immediate improvements to efficiency and hygiene conditions, reduces maintenance requirements and spare parts consumption, and minimizes the labor force needed for the process. Our range of M-Line robots includes the Leaf Lard Remover, Pre-Cutter and Belly Opener, Bung Remover, Splitting Saw and Neck Cutter, setting a new standard in primary processing automation.

Founded in 2010, Beijing Zhongrun Changjiang Food Co. supplies meat and poultry products to supermarkets and fresh e-commerce platforms across the country. The company recognized that the best way to meet the demand for prepacked fresh meat in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was to enhance production methods by using more intelligent, automated solutions. A meeting with Marel meat processing specialists revealed that the fixed-weight portioning solutions could meet the standards and requirements of the company’s high-end retail channels.

In 2022, Beijing Zhongrun Changjiang invested in two Marel case-ready lines for its pork processing facility to address the increased demand for prepacked fresh pork. The goal was to dramatically improve the production of standardized packs of multiple fresh pork products using less labor and boosting throughput. Before purchasing, packing required many hours of manual labor.

The two lines will include TREIF Falcon Evolution Preformers and a Marel tray-packing solution, including a product-to-tray unit, check weighers, make-weight stations and Innova Food Processing Software. The lines cover fixed-weight portioning, automatic packaging and weighing, and deliver excellent quality and high degrees of safety and standardization.

Brazilian company Frigon produces fresh and frozen beef products for local and international markets. To achieve and maintain the array of international inspection regulations and meet specific client production requirements, such as halal, Frigon needed exceptional production capacity and facility conditions. When the company decided to build a new facility with slaughtering, deboning and quartering lines that increased automation and processing capacity from 1,800 to 3,600 cattle per day, it came to Marel.

Frigon’s focus for secondary processing was to increase productivity with fewer employees and a smaller equipment footprint through automation. The secondary processing line uses advanced technology with continuous overhead conveyors, an automated weighing system and the OCM9500+ Automatic Box and Crate Labeler, all working together to increase production flow and dramatically reduce giveaway.

Frigon has fully integrated Innova software with its end-of-line process to enhance system stability and reduce data security concerns. The digital dashboard allows Frigon to see production status at any moment, creating a more efficient and accurate processing line.

Ciacarne Alimentos is a dedicated Brazilian pork processor of premium products with over 40 years in the industry and a particular focus on animal wellbeing, environmental sustainability and community responsibility.

When management realized that the original facility had reached capacity and the business was over-extending itself, it was clear Ciacarne needed to rebuild with greater primary processing strength. The goal was to raise the primary processing speed to 250-300 animals per hour, more than double the scope of the old facility, while maintaining Ciacarne’s high environmental and animal wellbeing standards. Marel’s mission to create a sustainable and future-ready pork processing industry supported Ciacarne’s vision; it was a perfect match.

Once the new, integrated primary processing line with Marel and Sulmaq solutions was up and running, Ciacarne more than doubled its processing capacity. Hygiene increased, labor dependence decreased and employee wellbeing improved. Some of the technology that stands out as invaluable to the new line is the innovative CO2 Stunning System and the highly advanced E-Line Splitting Saw.

Water is an increasingly valuable resource, and food processors have a growing need for reliable, safe water filtration and recycling that meet local effluent discharge laws and environmental targets, while optimizing energy usage.

Marel has over 50 years of experience in water treatment. We tailor-make our industrial wastewater treatment solutions to suit the specific environmental requirements of each facility and meet the most stringent environmental standards.

Over the past 15 years, PRONACA (Procesadora Nacional de Alimentos C.A.) has trusted Marel to design and install Marel Water Treatment systems in five of its processing facilities, with a sixth due to start operation in early 2023. When selecting the water treatment system for the company’s latest further pork processing facility, Pifo, PRONACA had to meet specific parameters, including Ecuador’s effluent discharge standards, ease of operation and optimization of operating costs. It also had to be compact enough to fit within the facility’s space constraints.

The waste treatment system for the Pifo facility consists of three main stages: pre-treatment by the Dissolved Air Flotation unit to efficiently pass fat and other organic substances to the surface for removal; biological treatment, which removes carbon and nitrogen pollution; and the BioFlot system to separate sludge and water.

The BioFlot system was integral for meeting the space constraints of the Pifo facility. Using a flotation process, rather than the settling process of Marel’s BioClar system, allows the BioFlot to have a higher sludge concentration and, thereby, a smaller reactor. The cleaned water passes through a final disinfection stage before being safely released into the environment.

Although still impacted by ASF, Asia is successfully rebuilding heavily impacted herds. The recovery of herd numbers in China has led to reduced demand for European producers, who saw an increase in export demand to fill the deficit in the Chinese market from 2019 to 2021.

China is the highest global consumer of pork. With China’s livestock numbers returning to strength after heavy losses due to ASF, processors are rethinking supply chains to prevent disease spread, shifting to farms and processing facilities that utilize advanced technologies and better biosecurity measures.

China is also seeing a shift in consumer demand for prepackaged products due to a growing middle class. These market changes are creating opportunities for Marel to expand its presence in China. An uptake of our portioning and packing solutions is advancing material handling and quality control to help prevent the spread of disease. Packing lines such as the case-ready line, which incorporates TREIF equipment for the first time in China, will ensure processors are prepared to respond to consumer demands as they grow and change.

The demand for local import and export is driving opportunity in North American beef, with the retail and foodservice sectors asking for high-quality, lean ground and whole muscle products. Processors looking to capitalize on this highly regulatory compliant market segment have invested in Marel inspection solutions such as the SensorX Accuro and SensorX Magna. These solutions help ensure that processors meet import and export targets for on-spec fat-to-lean ratios and food safety.

The margin shift between cattle ranchers and packing houses has created an opening for smaller players to vertically integrate and compete against large and established processors. While large processors continue to focus on commodities and volume, smaller companies are focusing on diversification of products, brands and prices, taking advantage of market demands such as halal and kosher, cut variety and farm-to-fork traceability. From livestock management to packing and further processing, smaller players in beef production are recognizing and reaping the benefits of new technology and software innovations.

Production of beef and veal is estimated to have grown by 1.8% in 2022 and reached 59.4 million tons while trade is estimated to have grown by 6.3% and reached 12.2 million tons. Both are well above last year’s forecast. In 2023, production is expected to shrink by 0.3% while trade is expected to grow by 0.2%.

Of major producers, Brazil and China are expected to increase their share in 2023 while the world’s leading producer, the US, as well as the EU and Argentina, are expected to shrink by up to 1%.

Brazil continues to be the world’s leading exporter of beef and veal while Australia is forecasted to overtake the US and become the second largest. The largest share of imports continues to go to China, which is expected to increase its share further in 2023.

China’s pork production is estimated to have grown by 16% in 2022 instead of shrinking as forecasted, raising the global total by 4.6% to 112.5 million tons. Consequently, China’s need for imports was considerably less, resulting in an estimated 11% decrease of exports globally. The forecast for 2023 is 1.4% production growth while trade is expected to shrink further by 1.2%.

Due to China’s impressive growth in 2022, its share of global production grew to 49%. The EU continues to be the leading exporter while Brazil is likely to overtake Canada in a few years’ time as the world’s third largest exporter.

Despite a decrease in 2022, China is still ahead of Japan as the world’s largest importer while the Philippines’ imports are the fastest growing.