Kjeld Johannesen, CEO of Danish Crown, said: "We are extremely pleased that all the work which has been invested in DC Future is now resulting in a marked increase in the number of pigs supplied to Danish Crown slaughterhouses, and that it translates into more Danish jobs>"

The purpose of DC Future is to strengthen the company's competitiveness so as to ensure higher prices for members, and it is the improved competitiveness which is now attracting more pigs to the slaughterhouses.

Over the summer and after the summer holidays, Danish Crown will see the impact of the increased number of slaughterings even more clearly, and until this happens the company cannot predict with complete certainty where jobs will be re-established. However, most of Danish Crown's departments are expected to see an increase in job numbers.

Mr Johannesen added: "At the moment, we have had to set up a waiting list for potential new cooperative members, and we will, of course, be working our way through this list as quickly as possible. However, we do not intend to throw ourselves into new investments, but rather to exploit our existing production capacity to the full until we can be more certain of the long-term effect."

DC Future targets reiterated

The very positive development does not mean that Danish Crown will be going back on the DC Future targets defined in spring 2009. Back then, the company launched an ambitious nine-point plan designed to improve its competitiveness by a combined DKK1.3 billion over an 18-month period. To this should be added improvements to the political framework conditions, which are still the focus of a lot of work.

The most recent figures show that Danish Crown is on track and has achieved considerable cost cuts throughout the group.

Mr Johannesen added: "The reduction in payroll costs is the only element in the nine-point plan which will not be fully implemented by October. We will definitely achieve half the pay cuts, but the other half of the cuts are also crucial to safeguarding our future competitiveness. We know from experience that the markets will pick up again at some point, and it is therefore important that payroll costs are tailored to the competitive situation in the longer germ."

He stressed that work is still going into a so-called Plan B as a way of ensuring the desired payroll cost reductions.

"However, this should not stop us from looking forward to a busy summer which may develop into a good autumn," Mr Johannesen said in conclusion.