Pasture-raised calves can revive appetite for veal - leatherbiz: Leadi Leatherbiz

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Pasture-raised calves can revive appetite for veal

01/09/2014
Calf slaughter rates are low, with official US statistics suggesting a decline of close to 30% over this summer compared to the same period in 2013. Current weekly totals are around 10,000 head across the US. Inevitably, tanners in all markets have found calfskins hard to come by.

An important factor in this is a fall in the popularity of veal in supermarkets and restaurants. The American Veal Association has told the New York Times that consumption rates there were at an average of more than 1.5 kilos of veal per person per year in the 1970s. However, by 2013, this had fallen to around 150 grammes per person per year.

There are some grounds for optimism, though, because more and more veal producers are switching to pasture-raised calves, removing elements of negative consumers perceptions. Around 70% of the association’s producers have begun to produce in this way now and the association says ‘pasture-raised’ will be the way 100% of US valves are produced by 2017.



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