GERMANY | Due to a shortage of skilled staff and strict bureaucratic constraints, the butchers' trade has faced various business challenges.
As the sector's leading international trade fair, IFFA – Technology for Meat and Alternative Proteins has presented future-orientated solutions for greater production efficiency and innovative sales concepts.
The shortage of qualified employees was a significant problem for most butcher trade companies. 24/7 solutions, which are being used by master butchers' businesses, particularly those in rural areas, have helped to alleviate this problematic situation by introducing innovative digital stores that generally operate without staff and are open around the clock.
Meat, sausages and more are kept in vending machines or chilled cabinets that customers can access directly. Shopfitters offer hybrid concepts for existing business premises, combining the advantages of staffed and unstaffed smart shops or sales containers that create new outlets in villages, railway stations, universities or retirement homes.
Ecological, economic and social awareness has a vital role to play for many butchers. By purchasing meat and animals for slaughter directly from farmers, many of whom are local, they become part of a natural cycle with short transportation distances.
In-house, humane slaughtering as a prerequisite for animal welfare and the best meat quality has given the trade a further ecological advantage. This has avoided environmental pollution and CO2 emissions with the subsequent production stages, such as cutting, meat processing and sales, all taking place under one roof.
The fact that most meat is sold over the counter rounds off the advantages of sustainability. Sourcing locally means short distances for employees and customers and avoids superfluous, sometimes environmentally harmful packaging.
Given their diverse entrepreneurial tasks, many butchers are unaware of their advantages in terms of sustainability and that their work should be more emphasised in marketing and communication.
The use of artificial intelligence in butcher shops has also become increasingly important.
IFFA is the ideal platform to discuss these trends and see a wide range of machines in operation. With the marketplace and competitions, the German Butchers' Association and GILDE will again present various events in Hall 12.0.
At the fair, almost all major exhibitors have experts in the trade who can advise on subjects such as slaughtering, processing, packaging, marketing, sales, storage technology, industrial hygiene, and IT. The next IFFA will be held from the 3rd to the 8th of May 2025.
