The increasing consolidation of the slaughter industry means that farms with relatively small land areas and livestock herds must either adapt to ever-larger, centralized slaughter facilities or find alternatives to them. In the slaughter industry, however, small, regional structures are declining or must compete with large slaughterhouses. Against this backdrop, mobile slaughtering represents an alternative for both farms with small herds and small-to-medium-sized slaughterhouses. For farms, it offers shorter transport distances and smaller slaughter batches. For smaller slaughterhouses, mobile slaughter also presents opportunities, e.g., as a service offering with their own slaughter trailer or as a source of meat with specific characteristics (animal welfare, regional origin, pasture-raised, etc.).
The project, funded by the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, examines the extent to which semi-mobile slaughter can be a viable economic option for small or medium-sized slaughterhouses and how such work processes can be integrated into existing slaughterhouse operations.
The study focuses exclusively on semi-mobile slaughter, in which the killing and bleeding of the animal takes place on the farm and the carcass is then immediately transported to a nearby slaughterhouse. A prerequisite for the use and widespread adoption of semi-mobile slaughter is its profitability and the ability to integrate it into existing work processes in small and medium-sized slaughterhouses. Therefore, the project will examine the economic and operational feasibility as well as the necessary prerequisites for this.
To answer the research question, interviews are planned with representatives of slaughterhouses and butcher shops with their own slaughter facilities, as well as industry and organic associations. Experts in mobile slaughter will also be consulted.
