site.btaSausages Contain Less than 20 Per Cent Bulgarian-made Ingredients - Trade Association

Sausages Contain Less than 20 Per Cent Bulgarian-made Ingredients - Trade Association

Sofia, April 7 (BTA) - The Bulgarian-made ingredients in sausages produced in this country are less than 20 per cent. The EU-wide import of meat and meat products is 82 per cent, while in Bulgaria it is 88-92 per cent and excludes the grey sector which has an annual turnover of about 1,000 million leva, members of the newly established Association of Pasture Animal Breeders told a BTA-hosted news conference on Thursday.

Imitation products in the meat industry are times as much as in the dairy sector, Chairman of the Association Stanko Dimitrov said, adding that the problem is that meat-packing factories decline to use high-quality but more expensive Bulgarian inputs, opting instead for cheaper imports.

Another problem is the illegal import of cheap meat which is detected when a comparison is made between the official statistics of regular imports, the quantity of meat from legally slaughtered animals in Bulgaria and the output of meat-packing factories. Yet another problem are big chain stores who buy cheap Argentinian beef, instead of the better quality Bulgarian beef.

The Association praised a decision of the Agriculture and Food Industry whereby municipal pastures and grasslands are to be only used by people raising animals which the Association thinks will give a big boost to the sector in the long run.

The farmers provided statistics, according to which in 2014 2,600 calves were slaughtered in Bulgaria, which is enough to fill the capacity of one meat-packing plants for 10-15 days. A total of 23,000 cattle were slaughtered per year, against a figure of 100-150,000 during the 1990s.

Dimitrov said that lamb for Easter will be imported, given that the lamb from Bulgarian-bred animals "has already been divided among local people and restaurants".