How the development of typical products affects breeding stock qualification for endangered breeds: the case of the Gascon pig
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Over ten years ago, the Gascon pig was endangered. It is now the component of top market pork products, among which the ‘Noir de Bigorre’ dry cured ham is the leading one. Our hypothesis is that the way in which these typical products are collectively developed results in a new definition of the characteristics of the animal resource. A study of the changing qualification criteria for breeding stock reveals that once the critical breed conservation stage has passed, the breeders then develop a series of qualification criteria for the animals during the emerging commercialisation project. There are two successive stages in this process. First, while the product concept is being developed, the breeders try to enhance the animals’ market value based on reference criteria used in conventional livestock production systems, such as size in relation to growth rate, carcass yield, or the productivity of sows. Second, the desire to reactivate the link between the breed and the territory by defining an ad hoc system leads breeders to select once again for the original traits of the Gascon pig.