The proof it is possible for a meat product manufacturer to profit by adding value Pork processor Cranswick's confident launch of a range of premium sausages using entirely home-produced raw material highlights the unreliability of common pessimistic assumptions about the sector's commercial prospects. The Best of British' range, comprising Breakfast Chipolata, Oxford Sausage, Pork and Herb Sausage and Traditional Baked Black Pudding, was launched on the day Sainsbury started listed the range, joining Tesco and Safeway. And Wednesday brought formal disclosure of pre-tax profit up 26% to £11.7m on turnover 22% better at £193m for the year to March, a result matching City expectations of another strong performance by a company regarded as a star in an unfashionable sector. The revamped Lazenby's label and the financial figures demonstrated it is indeed possible for a meat products manufacturer to make serious money by adding value to pork in the British market, despite the perhaps terminal decline obvious in the pig industry and the demand pressures imposed by FMD, swine fever and BSE. Cranswick's strong but steady earnings growth is not dependent upon the company just being a niche market player or only a buyer in a depressed raw material market: the group has substantial agribusiness interests, especially in feed manufacture and pig marketing. And although it benefits from the organic food fashion through its Duchy Originals range, the main thrust of the business is volume sales, albeit at the top of the market. Its share of,the premium sausage sector is nationally at least 25%. {{M/E MEAT }}

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