How can you find which spices have been used in any final product? Raw materials and product flows are more complex and the number of product variants increases. How do you deal with it as a food processing company?

Many activities take place in both the cold room and the cutting room. Actions and manipulations cannot always be absorbed by a “standard” software solution. That is why Food IT-Solutions has various mobile solutions to manage animal and carcass data.

For the fourth time since brexit, the accompanying control measures for food and drink exports to the UK are being postponed, this time until the end of 2023. The digital certification is still not ready.

In April, the FAO food price index fell for the first time in a long time. Have the rising costs of production thus reached their ceiling or are we on a plateau until the next rise knocks?

Since the bankruptcy of Qualibeef and AMB in August 2019, the activities of the Bastogne slaughterhouse have been at a standstill. More than two years later, two buyers have finally been found.

After Flanders and Wallonia, it is possible that ritual slaughter without stunning will also be banned in Brussels. This is causing great concern at the Abattoir in Anderlecht, where 80% of the animals are slaughtered without stunning.

After the scarcity of raw materials and rising costs during the pandemic, the food chain finally seemed to be recovering somewhat. But since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, profitable production has again become very difficult for many food companies. The result of this crisis is a stress test for the entire food chain.

Consumers recognise the intrinsic quality of Belgian Blue meat. However, in restaurants it is often foreign meat that is on the menu. With the new Blue Vallon label, BBB Promotion, Faircoop and BELGIUMeats want to promote Belgian white and blue meat in the catering industry.

In March, the price of pork rose by more than 30%. The reason? A sharp increase in demand and a decrease in supply. This makes for more expensive shopping baskets for consumers, but for pig farmers the higher prices finally offer some perspective.

"An example of energy saving and sustainable water management", was the verdict during the visit of Minister of Agriculture and Food Hilde Crevits to our customer Denis-Plants from Beervelde on 4 April.

A few weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, shortages of raw materials needed for production are looming and energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels.

After months of negotiations, the Flemish government finally reached a consensus on the nitrogen dossier at the end of February. In the agricultural sector, however, there is great concern and uncertainty about the nitrogen deal.

The goal of this Tournai start-up is to create a complete agricultural chain for the processing of vegetable proteins and thus to provide an answer to the increasing demand for vegetarian food.

The highly contagious omikron variant threatens to jeopardize the production capacity of food companies. Not only do many staff drop out due to illness, many employees also have to quarantine.

In the middle of last year, Minister Crevits proclaimed 'Food connects farmer and citizen'. As full links within the food chain, many Flemish food companies have meanwhile hooked up.

The Belgian food industry cannot escape the sharp rises in costs. Nevertheless, the sector wants to continue to contribute to a sustainable food system with high-quality food and drinks. Fevia presented a brand new sustainability roadmap for this during its annual meeting.

At the beginning of December, Flemish farmers took action in various places against the lack of a clear nitrogen policy from the Flemish government. The agri-food sector shares that concern, as the impact on agriculture will no doubt permeate the entire agri-food chain (from suppliers to processors).

Since 2018, numerous slaughterhouses and slaughter lines for short-chain farmers have disappeared in Belgium. This means that these farmers have to drive many kilometers to have their animals slaughtered. And that is at odds with the whole idea of ​​the short chain.

The Frankfurt Messe is traditionally the place to be during IFFA to keep up with current and future trends within the food and meat industry. That will be no different from 14 to 19 May 2022. An overview of the most important themes that will be discussed during this three-year international trade fair.

In 2013, Maastricht University presented the first in vitro burger. Since then, hundreds of millions of euros and dollars have gone into research into the optimization of the production process and the commercialization of cultured meat. However, it will have to wait for a breakthrough, possibly until 2040.

The corona crisis and African swine fever have given the Belgian pig sector a major blow. To alleviate the suffering of our pig farmers, Delhaize will grant them a crisis contribution until the end of this year.

The European Parliament has rejected the proposal in which the Green Group had called for the complete ban of certain antibiotics in animals. This does not alter the fact that the European Commission is actively considering how the use of antibiotics at European level can be reduced and, above all, harmonized.

After the discovery of African swine fever in our country in September 2018, the export of Belgian pork to countries outside the EU was completely restricted.

At the end of July, the last sheep slaughterhouse in the province of Antwerp closed. The closure of local slaughterhouses is gradually becoming a trend and makes the local slaughter of sheep, goats, pigs or poultry for the short chain in certain regions more and more difficult. Structural solutions for local slaughter infrastructure are therefore imperative.

You may find it logical that you regularly have your car or machines serviced. The same goes for taking out insurance that you may never need. Very often, however, this line is not extended to the systematic maintenance of business software. However, that is also absolutely necessary.

A cyber attack recently shut down a large part of the American meat company JBS. JBS, originally Brazilian, is active worldwide in meat processing and has slaughterhouses for beef, pork and poultry.

Michael Gore, general manager of FEBEV, prepared a contingency plan during the pandemic to best cope with the outbreak effects of the pandemic.

The Belgian food industry also did not escape the corona crisis in 2020. The closure of the catering and food service sectors and the decline in export markets hit the sector hard. Fevia, the federation of the Belgian food industry, advocates targeted support for companies to emerge from the crisis in a healthy way.

On January 1, 2021, the previous Belgian quality standards Certus and CodiplanPlus were converted to the new BePork standard. The Belgian standard supplier Belpork combines the previous separate standards for pork (Certus) with those for live pigs (CodiplanPlus).

EU food law states that production procedures must be preserved for years, which is impossible with a manual system.

Consumers rely on the quality and safety of the meat they buy and eat. Meat producers make it possible with Tracking & Tracing systems to track and trace a product through the entire production process and in further distribution.

The increase in meat consumption, the focus on vegetable proteins, the story about meat substitutes and much more.

Belgium is a forerunner in terms of food safety and controls. The Belgian meat suppliers meet the strictest European quality standards, supply fresh and high-yield meat, which also makes them very attractive for export.

The Corona of Covid-19 virus and the far-reaching measures taken by the government not only affect our society, but also the employment of our employees.

To limit the risk of contamination, we are forced to adjust our internal operations where possible.

Customer service is no longer just responding to e-mails, phone calls and live chat. Centralizing communications is an absolute necessity to give our customers the service they deserve.

On February 17th, professor Graham (university of Alberta, Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences - AFNS), also the CDO of Alpha Phenomics, came over for a 3 day visit to Belgium.

In December 2019, Alpha Phenomics welcomed Andrea Biondi, CEO of Biondi Engineering, and Willy Goossens, CEO of Food IT-Solutions, to experience all that Alberta has to offer and to meet several collaborators in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Proudly we would like to present our engagement in Alpha Phenomics. An Alberta (Canada) based company whose single focus is to improve the efficiency of animal protein production.