Influence of the textile material properties on the quality of use

Workwear must have a high practical value so that it can be used over as long a period of time as possible. This also applies in particular to leasing textiles, so when purchasing them, the price is not the decisive factor, but the cost-effectiveness of use and thus the quality.

As part of a research project (AIF project no. 12853 N), the Hohenstein Institute examined the influence of textile material properties on the functional quality of high-quality work clothing. As part of the project, guidelines for the correct selection of work (work wear), business and protective clothing (performance wear) were developed. In this, the essential quality features of high-quality workwear are examined.

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Black and white calves under price pressure

The market for Black and Pied calves has been characterized by a sharp drop in producer prices since the beginning of July. The prices for black and white bull calves fell by 20 to 30 euros per animal as demand from fatteners dropped noticeably. The price difference compared to the same week last year was unusually large at around 50 euros. In August, the supply of calves will continue to increase and will meet with very limited interest from veal farmers, since the fattening places are likely to be mostly occupied. Last year the producer prices for black and white bull calves fell to around 116 euros in August, prices of a similar magnitude or even slightly below would be conceivable in August of this year.

For Simmental breed animals, prices tended to fall only slightly compared to the beginning of July and are likely to level off at around EUR 4,20 per kilogram on a monthly average. No major price changes are expected for August. The supply, which is not too plentiful, should easily be placed with the bull fatteners.

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Less eggs used - self-sufficiency below 50%

According to the National Poultry Center, the Swiss consumed 2003 eggs per capita in 183, seven fewer than the year before. Domestic production fell last year by 3,3 percent to 680 million units. At the same time, imports of shell eggs, at 412 million pieces, fell short of the previous year's volume by 2,6 percent, which was certainly a reaction to the limited supply across Europe as a result of the avian influenza and the heat. Most of the imports came from Germany. Since domestic production fell somewhat more than imports, Switzerland's degree of self-sufficiency fell again slightly to 49,4 percent.

100 percent of Swiss eggs are produced in alternative husbandry systems, around 70 percent of which are in aviaries. Around 80 percent of the animals then have access to an outdoor climate area, and around 40 percent of the hens also have access to the countryside (free range). However, the demand for free-range eggs in Switzerland still barely exceeds 35 percent.

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Fred de Luca, head of the American fast food chain Subway, wants to conquer the German market. "If we open 25 new shops every quarter, as planned, we'll need three years to do so. But we're currently accelerating the development. Maybe we'll be ready in two years," says de Luca of ZEIT.

The Subway boss plans to grow his company in Germany from 100 branches to 400 to 500. The fast food chain is already active in 70 countries. Regarding Subway's closest competitor, McDonalds, de Luca says: "We make our sandwiches one after the other. That's why the average McDonald's makes about four to five times the sales of an average Subway. But we're more personal. It's both a strength and a weakness."

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BMVEL special "Organic Farming and Processing" at InterMeat / InterMopro 2004

Consumers' nutritional and health awareness is increasing. In Germany, 60 percent of all consumers now occasionally or regularly buy organic products, as the current EMNID ecobarometer shows. Although other areas are stagnating or even recording negative figures, the organic sector is one of the clear winners in the food market. At this year's InterMeat and InterMopro in Düsseldorf from September 26th to 29th, 2004, trade visitors have the opportunity to find out more about the opportunities and challenges of organic meat and to inform milk processing. In addition to a comprehensive organic product exhibition and culinary samples, a journey into the future is on the trade fair program: Ideas for organic as a success factor for food producers will be presented - developed by prospective dairy and butcher masters at the Bio inVision Camp®.

One thing is for sure: After the food crises of the past, consumers have become more sensitive to what goes on their plate. The number of people who consciously opt for a natural, healthy diet without genetically modified ingredients and artificial additives is increasing. So it's no wonder that more and more dairies and butchers with a partial or even full range in organic quality want to strengthen consumer confidence and open up new customer groups. With a market share of around 2,3 percent, organic is still a small but constantly growing area of ​​the food market. Especially in times of increasing competition, the processing of ecological raw materials into high-quality food has become a clear competitive advantage for many suppliers and thus economic success.

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The veterinary office has been largely paralyzed by budget cuts. In order to at least be able to pay rent and electricity for the office in Haardtring in Darmstadt, the office sees itself forced to close the field service in the next few months. This means that food and company controls, slaughter animals and meat inspections will no longer take place.

"A scandal," said District Administrator Alfred Jakoubek. "The country irresponsibly saves consumer protection to death." In a fire letter, he confronted the Ministry for the Environment, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection with the horror scenario and urgently demanded a second look. Jakoubek denies any responsibility for the impending fiasco. As the main state department, the veterinary office is assigned to it, but the state is responsible for the financial resources. Without prior notice, Wiesbaden reduced the budget for 2004, which was allocated a few days ago, by EUR 25.000 compared to the previous year to around EUR 100.000.

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Program booklet of the practice-oriented seminar series published

High product quality, trained sales staff, qualified managers and a varied range of products are the strengths of the butcher shop. So that these are particularly strengthened, the CMA Centrale Marketing-Gesellschaft der Deutschen Agrarwirtschaft mbH, in cooperation with the DFV Deutscher Fleischer-Verband eV, is again offering informative and practical seminars especially for owners, managers and sales staff in the butcher's trade.

Ten seminars will take place nationwide in the second half of 2004. The range of topics ranges from "The right meat offer - or: How to convince your customers in the long term" to "Nutritional knowledge up-to-date - for more customer advice in the butcher's shop" to "Competence through practiced hygiene - operational measures and controls with HACCP". The butcher trade thrives on the fact that both the entrepreneurs themselves and the employees are comprehensively trained. The seminars, which have long been offered by the CMA in cooperation with the German Butchers' Association, ensure this further training. Experienced speakers provide the participants with both basic knowledge and current scientific findings in a practical way.

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Compact training with exam

How do I bring transparency to the flow of information in my company? A quality management system (QM system) helps. The CMA Centrale Marketing-Gesellschaft der Deutschen Agrarwirtschaft mbH, as a licensee of the DGQ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Qualitäts eV, in cooperation with AGRIZRT, the society for quality promotion in the agricultural economy, provides tools for the development of individual QM systems in agriculture with their two-stage course "Quality Management Systems and Internal Audit" and "Quality Management Systems in Application". After 10 days, the course concludes with the examination for "quality officer DGQ and internal auditor". The next course will take place in September/October 2004.

In the first part of the course, the participants receive an introduction to the concept and the ISO 9000 family. DIN EN ISO 9004 and DIN EN ISO 9001 are discussed in detail. The participants get to know the special terminology of the series of standards as well as skills for the planning, implementation and evaluation of internal quality audits - instruments for self-assessment of activities in the company. Furthermore, the course teaches how to use preventive methods of QM for error prevention, error analysis and process optimization as well as the principles for the documentation of QM systems.

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Survey on exercise, leisure and nutritional behavior in Germany

"SITZEN" is capitalized in Germany. This is the result of a representative Emnid survey on exercise, leisure time and nutritional behavior initiated by the German Sport University Cologne together with Bayer HealthCare. About two-thirds of those surveyed practice almost no sport. Instead, they prefer passive activities like watching TV, relaxing, or reading. Pupils and students even spend 7,3 hours a day sitting, which puts them ahead of the rest of the population (5,8 hours).

According to the study, only 36% of those surveyed exercise at least twice a week for at least 30 minutes. "This shows that around 2/3 of our population suffer from a significant lack of exercise with all the associated consequences," says Professor Hans-Georg Predel, head of the Institute for Cardiovascular Research and Sports Medicine at the Sports University. "With regular exercise in an endurance sport, the risk of various diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, could be significantly reduced." The main risk factors for this disease are insufficient exercise and an unhealthy diet. The German Sport University in Cologne, with its wide range of competencies in the subject areas of "exercise and sport", sees this as an important task for future research and transfer projects.

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The companies in the food industry have just agreed to a massive intervention in your entrepreneurial freedom as a food manufacturer. You became a member of the "Nutrition and Exercise Platform" through your interest group, the Federation for Food Law and Food Science (BLL). This purports to combat obesity in children, but ultimately targets your range - particularly what is currently on the open-ended index of nutritionists. These are paid with your money to warn about your products. If you believe the latest government statement by consumer minister Renate Künast, we are in danger of becoming a nation of obese people who die prematurely - and that with constantly increasing life expectancy. Somehow both are said to be contributing to the explosion in healthcare costs. And the food producers are to blame! The minister began her statement by referring to a child who weighed 38 kilos at the age of three and died of a heart attack. However, according to research by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper, the girl had a serious congenital heart defect. What do we learn from this? Propaganda doesn't have to be true, it just has to work.

Read the open letter from Udo Pollmer and Brigitte Neumann to the food industry, which has now been published in the scientific information service of the European Institute for Food and Nutrition Sciences (EU.LE) eV on the [EU.LE - Internet pages]!

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Low demand

In June, lamb was not particularly popular with local consumers. Despite the small supply, the producers of slaughter lambs were only able to place their animals on the market at falling prices. The mean for lambs billed at a flat rate was only 3,62 euros per kilogram slaughter weight in June, which was 21 cents less than in the previous month. The previous year's level was missed by 61 cents.

In June, the notifiable slaughterhouses in Germany accounted for an average of around 1.510 lambs per week, partly on a flat-rate basis, partly according to commercial classes. That was nine percent less than in the previous month, but a good 19 percent more than in June 2003.

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