Danish Crown has said it’s important to “stay calm” following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, expressing the view that it remains “relatively optimistic” about future trading relationships between Denmark and Britain.
“Until a few months ago an (out) result to the British referendum was to most people completely unimaginable,” said the company. “Now it is a fact and Danish Crown will have to relate to this reality.
“Short term we will surpass most of the foreign exchange unrest as a large share of our sales to Britain will be by contract, which will be set for some months to come. During this period we will naturally follow the situation closely”
Danish Crown Export’s associate vice president, Søren Tinggaard, also said that he believed British consumers will eat bacon in the future and that a considerable amount of this will come from Danish Crown.
“The business model of Danish Crown, providing access to both Danish and British pigs is a huge strength in this situation,” he said. “To what extent the meat will be from Danish abattoirs or the 16 plants operated by Tulip Ltd in England, the future will tell.”
Mr Tinggaard added that Britain will no doubt also import food in future and that he knows British consumers “appreciate our high quality” and that “our sales to the British market will also in future be significant”.
“In this context it is pivotal that Europe sets the price level of pork in Britain,” he said. “We have clearly seen this for the past two months when the price of fresh pork has increased significantly.
“In the current situation Danish Crown has the advantage of wide market access to more than 130 countries worldwide. This provides optimum opportunity to take action in the market.
“In future it will be decisive which agreement the EU and Britain will negotiate. The preferred scenario to Danish Crown is for the trade between Britain and Denmark to remain more or less on unchanged terms.”