Industry overview
What is shaping meat & poultry
Meat, poultry and egg businesses are moving from wet markets to packaged and online formats, where hygiene, freshness and trust decide whether consumers switch.
- Packaged and online meat is growing
- Hygiene perceptions drive outlet choice
- Farm practices affect supply and quality
Client background
A meat processing company, working in Uttar Pradesh. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A meat processing company
- Sector
- Meat & poultry
- Team engaged
- Finance & Accounts
- Services
- Virtual CFO services, MIS & financial reporting, Accounting & finance consulting
Client challenge
The meat processor’s profitability swung widely from month to month, and management could not tell which products and markets made money because costs were not tracked by product. Market prices for different cuts and by-products moved independently, which made average margins misleading.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: understanding product margins for a meat processor.
- Establish accurate, reconciled numbers management can rely on.
- Put a reporting and compliance rhythm in place that runs on time.
Target audience
Scope: One plant, export and domestic products.
Audiences we typically reach in meat & poultry
Meat and egg consumersRetailers and butchersOnline buyersPoultry farmersRestaurant buyers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Uttar Pradesh. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured finance engagement: review the current process, set up controls, run the routine and report.
- 1Brief
- 2Yield-based costing
- 3Monthly MIS
- 4Insight
We built a costing model based on carcass yields, by-products, processing and packaging costs, and introduced a monthly management report with margins by product and market. Plant managers and the finance team agreed yield assumptions together, and the model was updated each month with actual yields.
Virtual CFO servicesMIS & financial reportingAccounting & finance consulting
Sampling strategy
- Every ledger, entity and transaction stream in scope was covered, with sample-based checks during review.
Data collection
- Source documents, bank statements and ledgers were collected through a secure shared workspace.
Data quality & validation
- Maker-checker review on all entries
- Bank and ledger reconciliations
- Client approval before every filing or report
- Supporting documents kept for every figure
Data analysis
- Variance analysis against budget and prior periods
- Ratio and trend analysis
- Cash-flow view for management
Key findings
- Sales teams also used product margins when negotiating export contracts.
Yield-based costing reflected the real economics of the business.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: yield-based costing reflected the real economics of the business.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: sales teams also used product margins when negotiating export contracts.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- Several low-margin products were repriced, and management used monthly data to plan the product mix around market prices.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Monthly MIS pack and reconciled books
- Compliance calendar and filings
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what do farmers need to improve supply?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.