Consumer and Trade | The Norwegian meat mountain is growing: – I see no way other than big price cuts

(The newspaper online): Early last fall, Nortura took action to reduce its large meat inventory. But the weekly report for the first week shows that inventories are only increasing.

There are now 7,376 tons of beef in cold storage. that it 876 tons more than before Christmas. And more than two thousand tons More than in mid-October.

As for pork, there are 3,634 tons in stock, which is exactly the same as in December.

Get out of the way: – away from sober

-More serious

-We have just seen the problems with both eggs and milk, of which there is little. The meat backlog now is actually a more serious deviation relative to the market balance itself, says grocery expert Ivar Petersen in Alo's analysis.

He is surprised by the development.

-This has proven to be very demanding. He says this means that pork stocks are not particularly low over Christmas, and it is also dangerous that beef stocks are increasing sharply.

It is not permissible to throw it outside

We recently heard about a shortage of milk and eggs. But there were also periods of overproduction of these goods.

– Previously, it was common for Norwegian agricultural goods to be dumped in other countries. WTO (Put an end to. It is no longer possible, says Associate Professor Ivar Gasland at BI.

It's good news for some, bad news for others.

– When there is a surplus of eggs, meat, and dairy, you are forced to sell them locally at a lower price. Gasland says it's good for consumers, but expensive for farmers.

New price cuts

Last fall, Nortura cut beef and pork prices by 17 and 25 percent, respectively, but inventories did not decline.

– Ivar Petersen says: – I see no other way than to reduce the price significantly.

But if Nortura reduces the price further, this alone will not be enough.

The joke is whether grocery chains allow price cuts to be passed on to consumers. We saw earlier that it didn't quite happen. Petersen says there have been cases where manufacturers lowered prices, while stores then raised them.

He believes it may be difficult to get rid of large amounts of meat now.

The beginning of the year is not a season in which there is an abundance of meat, for example during the barbecue season in the summer, he said.

-It has nothing to do with milk

Nortura confirms that there is a lot of meat in stock.

– It is true that there are now a lot of cattle in regulatory warehouses, wrote Ole Sköllberg, Total Markets Manager at Nurtura in an email to Nettavisen.

the dairy farmer said last week Margaret Akirwe Mo said she slaughtered more cows earlier than planned To reduce excessive milk production.

-The increase we have seen recently is in line with our expectations. This has nothing to do with milk status, Skolberg writes.

He says this about the measures Nortura is taking to reduce large inventories:

– We are now entering a period where fewer cattle are being slaughtered, which means that a lot of cattle will be taken out of regulatory storage. A huge discount of 17 percent is also given to stimulate increased sales.

But what will happen in the future with prices is uncertain.

– For natural reasons, we cannot comment on future prices, he writes.

It's hard to plan

Nortura sells eggs and meat through the two companies it owns, Prer and Gilde. But Nortura also has a so-called market regulation function. Tine has a similar function in the dairy market.

This means that they use tools such as prices and taxes to control the quantity produced and that farmers receive a fairly equal price.

– This is the central planning of production quantities and prices. It's not easy, says Ivar Gasland.

He believes the market can manage this better.

– He says that market mechanisms work efficiently and excellently so that they can produce enough and at the right price.

Recently, people have seen empty egg shelves in stores, but Gasland doesn't think this will be a big problem in the future.

– For consumers, this is not very dangerous. But it is dangerous for those who have jobs as market regulators. They will often have to open up to imports, he says.

– Not like nail production

Both Tyne and Nortura are owned by farmers. The Farmers' Association believes it is right to stick to the current arrangement.

– Yes, of course. In order to be able to provide a stable amount of food, market regulators are needed more than ever, after many tools for regulating production have been removed, says farmer association leader Björn Gemming.

He believes it is important to have regulations, among other things, to prevent seasonal changes.

Food production is not like nail production. Jiming says that the production time is long, and farmers cannot switch between production and stop it.

– What should be done to make sure there are enough eggs, milk and meat in the shops?

– These are products in which we are largely self-sufficient, and we have the best conditions to produce them ourselves in Norway. “If it is financially profitable for the farmer, we will continue production,” says Jiming.