VIABIO

Context

At an European scale and globally, the markets of food products stemming from organic farming confirm their growth and are in process of a progressive structuralization. This process is irregular in time and according to the regions, it differs from a sector to another. On the Walloon region scale, and if we consider the evolution of the surfaces, we observe a regular growth until 2002, a constant level between 2002 and 2005, and a new outbreak of conversions in terms of surfaces (+20%) as well as in terms of number of farmers (+15%) in 2006. The globally positive signals of the European market, the progressive structuralization of the long food chain stimulated by the large distribution and the specialised stores chains coupled with an efficient maintenance help regime are to be accredited to this evolution.

However, these global figures must not hide the particularities of each food chain of which the analysis can reveal problematic situations. It is notably the case of the organic bovine meat chain, which is the object of this research. Although the large distribution drains 55% of the demand, national consumption remains constant since 2001. On the other hand, 70% of suckling cattle produced according to this mode of production are valued on the conventional market. A research intervention project established within the framework of the federal program of scientific support for the sustainable development (Stassart et al., 2005) and operated at the organic bovine meat network level and to the breeding-fattening system raises two axes of development of the organic network. The first one, which constitutes “the ideal type” in terms of model of sustainable food industry development, leans on the professionalization of localized parallel networks. In this type of commodity chain are implicated operators said to be “exclusive”, meaning of whom the activity of production, transformation, distribution or consumption are subject to a reconversion that excludes, at least in principle, the conventional product.

The second development axis appears in the 1990s in link with the arrival of the large distribution on the organic market via long commodity chains. In this type of commodity chain and contrarily to the previous ones, some operators are from the “inclusive” type. They incorporate the organic product in their basic activity and try to organise the co-existence between the two types of products.The analysis of the functioning of bovines breeding conducted in organic farming, when they are linked with marketing commodity chains and this either with an “exclusive” or “inclusive” type of chain, reveals the existence of tensions between the specifications of organic breeding and the Belgian referential of the lean and tender meat linked to the breeding of the Belgian Blue breed (BBB). This referential, shared implicitly by the actors of the BBB bovine meat commodity chain, specifies for each of them what type of qualification (professional) they should follow (Stassart and Jamar, 2005). The tensions between referential are noticeable on the respect of some constraints of the organic specifications: the maximum percentage of concentrated allowed in the ration, the pasture obligation, the limitation to a curative use of Veterinarian allopathic medicines and, on a smaller scale, the limitation of the proportion of calving via caesareans. At the European scale, the recent shortages of organic feed (Stocker, 2007) are an illustration of the increasing contradictions between the organic principle of autonomy in the farm and the separation between animal production and crop production which prevails in the conventional food-processing industry.

One of the conclusions of this research is that, in front of the dominant referential, the organic referential is largely under-equipped, meaning that persists a lack of knowledge shared on what is an organic breeding, the way to fatten, the proper way to cut  or the specific qualities of the end product. Consequently, and in spite of the breed changing imposed by the limitation of number of birth via caesarean, the organic meat proposed in the shelves spacing present similar characteristics to conventional meat without being identical: the sensorial differences lightly marked allow the comparison and can be interpreted, based on criteria usually used by the consumers, as defects. Expected on the taste criteria, and confronted to more typified meats type “Irish-beef” or “angus-beef”, organic meat could pay its lack of differentiation by a lack of credibility towards potential consumers. The consolidation of the bovine meat market, after a strong growth period linked to sanitary crisis, come to confirm this hypothesis as well as the progressive weakening of cut meat consumption to the profit of minced meat.

Objectives

Expected results

This disposal must allow to highlight the impact of main breeding and meat transformation parameters (breed, sex, concentrate ratio, grazing occurrence, maturation period) interfering with organic rules specificity on meat characteristics. Based on that information we will try to describe what an organic meat would be to differentiate itself in a unambiguous way from the conventional standard.

These references will also be incorporated in the farm and food chain models to quantify the environmental and economical externalities that could be expected from such alternatives.

Eventually, in confronting these technical results with the criteria highlighted by the consumers in the focus groups, contrasted list of promotion points will be drawn up to articulate in a coherent way material and immaterial qualities of organic beef meat. These promotion lists will be tested in mix focus groups including producers and consumers.

Results obtained

Five breeding-fattening itineraries were identified and tested. Three are based on males production while the two others valorise females (table 1).

On each animal two muscles types were characterised (the Longissimus dorci (LD) and the Biceps femoris (BF)) after the application of one (6 days) or two (6 and 27 days) periods of maturation.

Experimental results are under analysis to be mobilised as criteria, by the focus groups, to make the link between the production system and the end product quality.

Contribution

Partners

Mormont M,  Stassart PULg-SEEDSocio-Economie Environnement Avenue de Longwy, 185B-6700 ArlonPhone : +32 63 23 08 16 P.Stassart@ulg.ac.be

Baret Philippe Unité de Génétique Université catholique de LouvainCroix du Sud, 2 bte 14 B-1348 Louvain-la-NeuvePhone : +32 10 47 37 23 baret@gena.ucl.ac.be

Clinquart AntoineScience des denrées alimentairesSection TechnologieUniversité de LiègeSart-Thilman B43bisB-4000 LiègePhone : +32 43 66 40 48antoine.clinquart@ulg.ac.be

CRAW off coordinator

Funding

• DGARNE