Dutch food group Nutreco today (28 October) reported an almost 4% rise in third-quarter sales from its meat division but said the unit’s “operational results” fell below last year’s third quarter.

Nutreco said sales from its “meat and other” arm rose 3.9% to EUR273.7m on the back of price increases and a 0.9% increase in volumes.

However, CEO Wout Dekker added: “The meat operations have good results but lower compared with the excellent third quarter in 2009.”