About Fleischwirtschaft

Fleischwirtschaft

Fleischwirtschaft (own spelling: FLEISCHWIRTSCHAFT) is an international monthly trade journal for the entire meat industry, published by the dfv Mediengruppe (Deutscher Fachverlag) in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1921 in Berlin, the magazine covers the full chain from meat production to marketing and appears monthly in German, six times a year in English, and twice a year each in Russian and Chinese. It is the official organ of the Bundesverband der Wurst- und Schinkenproduzenten e.V. (Federal Association of Sausage and Ham Producers) and carries its own scientific section, "Fleischforschung und Entwicklung" (Meat Research and Development), which fosters exchange between research and practice.

Overview

Fleischwirtschaft is the journal of record for the German and international meat business. Published monthly in German with international editions, it addresses the entire value chain: meat production, slaughter and cutting, meat processing, and marketing – from the farm and the slaughterhouse through the processing plant to the retail counter. Its readership consists of the people who carry responsibility in the industry's companies: executives and managers in meat production, processing and marketing, plus the industry's suppliers, associations and researchers.

The magazine's international profile is unusual among German trade journals: beyond the monthly German edition, Fleischwirtschaft appears six times a year in English as FLEISCHWIRTSCHAFT international, and twice a year each in Russian and Chinese. This multilingual program reflects the global structure of the meat trade, in which machinery, ingredients, genetics and finished products cross borders as a matter of course. The international editions give the journal a reach that extends well beyond the German-speaking markets.

As the official organ of the Bundesverband der Wurst- und Schinkenproduzenten e.V., the magazine carries an institutional weight in the sausage and ham segment – the value-added heart of the meat industry. Its editorial program combines industry news and company reporting with a scientific section that keeps the dialogue between research institutes and industry practice alive: the "Fleischforschung und Entwicklung" pages present research findings in a form that practitioners can use.

The journal is part of the dfv Mediengruppe's food division, anchored in the Verlagsbereich Fleischwirtschaft (Meat Industry publishing division) alongside the Allgemeine Fleischer-Zeitung (afz). Together the two titles cover the industry's full spectrum: the afz as the biweekly newspaper for the butcher's trade and fresh-food managers, Fleischwirtschaft as the monthly magazine for the industry's decision-makers and its international audience. The dfv Mediengruppe, headquartered at Mainzer Landstraße 251 in Frankfurt am Main, is one of Germany's largest specialist publishers.

History

Fleischwirtschaft was founded in 1921 in Berlin, in the early years of the Weimar Republic – a period when Germany's food industry was industrializing rapidly and the meat trade was organizing itself into modern associations and supply chains. From the start the journal was conceived as the specialist organ of the meat industry, documenting its companies, technologies and markets.

Over the following decades the magazine accompanied the industry through war and reconstruction, through the economic miracle and the rise of industrial meat processing, through European integration and the globalization of the meat trade. The journal moved with its publisher to Frankfurt am Main, where it is published today in the dfv Mediengruppe – the Verlagsgruppe Deutscher Fachverlag that grew from a Frankfurt-based specialist publisher into one of Europe's leading trade-media groups.

A significant editorial milestone was the journal's repositioning with a new concept and a new look, announced by the dfv Mediengruppe: the layout was modernized and the format reduced to DIN A4, while editorially the magazine positioned itself even more strongly as the mirror of industry events, with a practical orientation and its own well-founded research section. The goal was to make the monthly Fleischwirtschaft indispensable reading for everyone who bears responsibility in the industry's companies – from meat production through meat harvesting and processing to marketing.

The journal's international editions developed in parallel with the globalization of the meat trade: the English-language FLEISCHWIRTSCHAFT international appears six times a year, and the Russian and Chinese editions twice a year each, extending the magazine's reach into the markets where German meat technology and know-how are in demand.

Throughout its more than one hundred years, the magazine has maintained its core identity: the international specialist journal for the entire meat industry, from production to marketing, with a scientific section that keeps research and practice in dialogue. In an industry shaped by food safety debates, sustainability pressures, changing consumer habits and technological innovation, the journal's role as the industry's forum and memory has only grown.

Content and Sections

The editorial program of Fleischwirtschaft follows the meat value chain from start to finish. Production coverage addresses livestock farming, slaughter and cutting – the primary stage where the industry's raw material is produced. Processing coverage addresses the heart of the industry: sausage and ham production, meat product manufacturing, ingredients and additives, machinery and technology, packaging and logistics. Marketing coverage addresses the trade: retail, wholesale, food service and the consumer trends that shape demand.

Industry news forms the backbone: company developments, investments, mergers and acquisitions, management changes, new plants and technologies. The magazine reports on the industry's markets – raw material prices, trade flows, regulatory developments – and on the topics that move the industry: food safety, animal welfare, sustainability, alternative proteins, automation and digitalization, energy costs and labor markets.

The scientific section "Fleischforschung und Entwicklung" is a distinguishing feature: it presents research findings from institutes and universities in a form accessible to practitioners, maintaining the exchange between science and industry that the journal has cultivated for decades. Topics range from meat science and microbiology to process technology and product development.

Special issues and trade fair coverage are integral to the program: the magazine publishes special editions around the industry's leading trade fairs – notably IFFA, the international trade fair for the meat and protein industry held in Frankfurt – and produces the FRANKFURT DAILY, the official trade fair newspaper, in cooperation with Messe Frankfurt. These specials combine editorial coverage with the advertising presence that finances specialist publishing.

Events extend the brand into the conference business: the Forum der Fleischwirtschaft, organized with partners such as technical universities, addresses topics like food safety, consumer information, labeling regulations and hygiene risk assessment, bringing together industry executives, food inspectors and researchers. The forum tradition reaches back to the turn of the millennium and continues the journal's role as the industry's meeting place.

Publisher and Organization

Fleischwirtschaft is published by the Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH, operating as the dfv Mediengruppe, headquartered at Mainzer Landstraße 251, 60326 Frankfurt am Main. The journal is anchored in the publisher's Verlagsbereich Fleischwirtschaft (Meat Industry publishing division), which also publishes the Allgemeine Fleischer-Zeitung (afz) – the biweekly newspaper for the butcher's trade and fresh-food managers in retail – and is situated within the publisher's Agrarzeitung (agricultural newspaper) area.

The dfv Mediengruppe is one of Germany's largest specialist publishers, with a portfolio spanning the food industry, hospitality, textiles, and other sectors. The Meat Industry division is one of its traditional strongholds, reflecting Frankfurt's role as a center of the German food trade and the publisher's century-long relationship with the meat industry.

The magazine is the official organ of the Bundesverband der Wurst- und Schinkenproduzenten e.V., the federal association of sausage and ham producers – a relationship that underscores the journal's institutional position in the industry's value-added segment. The 2025 media kit names Caroline Cartano as editor of FLEISCHWIRTSCHAFT, with the editorial team operating from the publisher's Frankfurt headquarters.

The journal carries the ISSN 0015-363X in print and appears monthly in German, six times a year in English, and twice a year each in Russian and Chinese – a publishing program that reflects the international structure of the meat trade and the global demand for German meat-industry expertise.

Digital Presence

The digital home of Fleischwirtschaft is fleischwirtschaft.de, the portal that extends the print magazine into continuous industry coverage. The site publishes industry news, company reports, market information and background articles, serving the daily information needs of the meat industry between print issues. The English-language edition maintains its own presence at english.fleischwirtschaft.de, serving the international readership of FLEISCHWIRTSCHAFT international.

The portal's coverage mirrors the magazine's value-chain approach: production, processing, marketing, technology and research, with the timeliness that the web allows – breaking industry news, trade fair coverage, and the service journalism that professionals consult daily. The digital editions of the print magazine make each issue available to subscribers in electronic form, complementing the print circulation.

Newsletters deliver the industry's headlines to subscribers' inboxes, while the magazine's social media presence extends its reach into the professional networks where the industry's executives and managers communicate. The trade fair specials – including the FRANKFURT DAILY produced for IFFA in cooperation with Messe Frankfurt – bridge print, digital and event, with the digital components providing the real-time coverage that a trade fair newspaper requires.

With more than a century of publication history, an international multilingual program, its own scientific section and a digital portal that keeps the industry current every day, Fleischwirtschaft remains the central specialist medium of the meat business – the journal that documents the industry's companies, technologies and markets, and the forum where its professionals meet.