On April 26, Professor Huang Lusheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Zhu Li, Dean of the College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, and Professor Xiao Shijun from Jiangxi Agricultural University, visited Sichuan Dekon Tonnies Food Co., Ltd. Accompanied by Yao Hailong, President of Dekon Group, and other senior executives, the delegation conducted research on pig slaughtering and processing techniques, whole-industry-chain data mining and utilization, and high-end food system construction. As an authoritative scientist in the field of animal genetic breeding in China, Professor Huang paid particular attention to key transformation links from breeding to processing during this visit, and examined how Dekon utilized industrialized methods to implement breeding achievements and ensure the quality of pork.
During the visit, Academician Huang Lusheng conducted a detailed examination of key production links including pre-slaughtering preparation of pigs, carbon dioxide stunning system, AutoFom intelligent grading system, and four-stage acid removal & pre-cooling process. He highly recognized the whole-process quality control system covering the disease screening of incoming pigs and the post-slaughter microbial control, as well as the precise temperature and humidity control at different stages to ensure the quality of pork. He pointed out that China’s pig industry is in a critical phase of high-quality development, and that the slaughtering process is crucial for ensuring meat safety and quality. He expressed the hope that Dekon Tonnies could continue to innovate based on the existing high standards and strict requirements, and strive to become a national model and an international leader.
Academician Huang paid particular attention to the value of data flow in the entire industry chain. Relying on RFID chips, Dekon Tonnies achieves full traceability for every pork carcass. Key information such as pig origin, individual weight and carcass grade can be obtained throughout the slaughtering, grading and sales process, and all data are uploaded to the information system to guide breeding improvement and raw material matching. Academician Huang commented that this digital technology has successfully established a data link among breeding, farming and slaughtering, enabling data to generate value at both the consumer end and the breeding end, which provides valuable reference for the entire industry.
During the exchange, Academician Huang encouraged the enterprise to further promote the construction of the whole-industry-chain precision breeding system by leveraging the mining and utilization of slaughter determination data resources. He proposed to establish comprehensive measurement standards covering carcass traits (backfat thickness, loin eye area, dressing percentage and lean meat percentage), meat quality characteristics (IMF content, pH value, meat color and tenderness), and processing suitability, and form a closed loop of “core herd selection- slaughter determination- data modeling- in-vivo detection- genetic improvement”. By deeply integrating slaughter determination data with in-vivo phenotypes (body size and image characteristics) and genomic data, in-vivo detection and assessment models for key carcass traits such as IMF content, loin eye area, and economic carcass segmentation can be developed to realize precision breeding of core herd individuals and promote the transformation of breeding objectives from “production performance” to “production performance + carcass meat quality”, thereby meeting the new consumer demands of the future pork market. Academician Huang emphasized that the ultimate goal of all efforts made in the whole industry chain is to serve consumers, so that the public has access to safer, more delicious, and more affordable pork.
Academician Huang’s thematic research is not only a field investigation of the industrial frontier from an academic perspective, but also offers targeted suggestions for advancing China’s livestock and food industry toward high-quality development. The two sides reached a consensus on deepening cooperation concerning Chinese pig breeding technology breakthrough and core provenance innovation. As a benchmark Sino-German cooperation project, Dekon Tonnies will gather top-tier talents and integrate advanced domestic and international technologies. Through innovative practices in production industrialization, data intelligentization, high-standard quality control systems, and the development of pork products tailored to meet new consumer demands, Dekon Tonnies aims to explore new paths for the high-quality development of the industry.
Located in Renshou County, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, Sichuan Dekon Tonnies is a joint venture between Sichuan Dekon Group and German Tonnies Group. The Company fully adopts EU standards for pig slaughtering and livestock product processing, and is equipped with globally leading slaughtering, segmentation and refrigeration facilities. It has an annual pig slaughtering capacity of 2 million heads. It has Asia’s largest and most technologically advanced online segmentation production line with a processing capacity of 450 pigs per hour, which is the largest and highest-standard pig slaughtering and meat processing project in southwest China.
