Pork News
China is now the biggest market for UK pork exports outside of Europe, according to AHDB Pork, with strong demand for offal likely to continue to grow.
According to Jean-Pierre Garnier, AHDB Pork’s export manager, the current Chinese market remains full of opportunities. “The conditions in China are favourable. Prices have been rising and there’s not a lot of pork available on the market at the moment. We cannot say forever, but for the foreseeable future we can see strong growth.
It is estimated that China consumes half the pork in the world, he added. However, there is still work to do to ensure that the value of exports keep pace with volumes. “It is important to us to improve the value of what we export to China in terms of added value and making more branded products, as well as better packaging, to make it better for the consumer,” said Garnier
At the moment, the UK exports 28% of the pork it produces. In the month of August, both imports and exports of the meat increased. At just over 30,000 tonnes, pork imports were 8% higher than they were in August last year.
Spain has experienced a 50% rise in export volumes of pork to the UK, according to the levy board. Belgium and Denmark are also key suppliers of the meat, with both countries seeing a 14% rise.
Imports and exports remain a key area for progression, but pig slaughterings in the EU aren’t experiencing the same growth.
Although a rise in slaughterings is expected to continue until at least the middle of next year, they have slowed compared to the first half of 2015, according to AHDB Pork.
This conclusion is constructed around an analysis of figures presented by the European Commission’s pigmeat forecast working group. A report from the levy board highlighted that: “Pig slaughterings are forecast to rise by around 2% year on year in the second half of 2015, with growth slowing to around 1% in the first half of 2016.”
Furthermore, it said that many member states are predicting that pig levels will remain similar to year earlier levels. The strong growth by Spanish output is set to outweigh this stability, though this may also begin to relax by the second quarter of next year.
Bpex has launched point-of-sale material for butchers as part of its campaign to promote pulled pork.
The kits will contain posters, window vinyls and recipes with the strapline ‘Perfect for Pulled Pork.’
Bpex hopes the campaign will help boost sales of pork shoulder, after the levy board found very few young people were eating fresh pork at home, remaining popular with over-60s age group.
The promotional activity will be supported by a £2m television marketing campaign.
Butchery and product development manager at Bpex, Keith Fisher, said: “We are hugely excited by this campaign and its potential impact on pork shoulder sales and wanted to give the independent retail sector every opportunity to benefit. We know that promotional kits are well received, not just by butchers, but also their customers, who can take much-needed recipe inspiration away with them. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that effective merchandising can increase sales by as much as up to 25%.”
A new survey shows consumers are backing British pork, with 80% saying supermarkets should continue to stock high levels of British meat.
Despite a glut of cheap foreign pork following the turmoil in Ukraine, customers want their shops to stock product from British farms to maintain consumer confidence following the horsegate scandal, according to YouGov research released by the National Pig Association (NPA).
The research also showed that 65% believe importing more European pork, which is not produced under food assurance schemes like Red Tractor, could increase risk of another horsegate-style scandal. Furthermore, only 19% want more cheaper European pork imports to keep down prices.
NPA chairman Richard Longthorp said: “Consumers have always been loyal to British pig farmers, particularly after horsegate, but even we have been surprised by this significant vote of confidence in the quality of our pork, bacon, sausages and ham. This research suggests supermarkets are delighting shoppers by sticking to their horsegate promises to sell more British meat, despite the current provocation of a mountain of cheap meat piling up in Continental cold stores.”
The NPA praised supermarkets for their loyalty to British pork, especially the “hundred-percenters” – Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Budgens, The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and discounters Aldi and Lidl.
NPA chief executive Dr Zoe Davies said: “The taste and quality of domestic pork and pork products is underrated by the high-welfare methods of British pig farms. Nearly half our pigs spend some of their lives outdoors, over 90% are covered by the independently-audited Red Tractor quality assurance scheme, and almost one-third are also inspected by RSPCA for its Freedom Food animal welfare label.
“This YouGov research shows shoppers are in no doubt that supermarket commitments following horsegate to source more British meat have played an important role in restoring confidence in the meat on supermarket shelves.”
Pork is currently great value for shoppers since retailers have honoured their pledge to stock British product, according to pig levy body Bpex.
The organisation explained that the differential between UK and EU pig prices was at its highest in living memory and usually this would lead to cheaper Continental imports being sucked in, leading to an adjustment in prices. However this has not happened, in part because of the pledge taken by retailers and foodservice firms to stock domestic product following the horsegate scandal.
UK consumers can get great value by buying pork, since UK pigs have fallen in price by more than 15% since the summer, added Bpex.
However, AHDB senior analyst Stephen Howarth said continued loyalty to British pork will be essential in the future: “The majority of those organisations seem to have stuck to the pledge and are still stocking their shelves with British product.
“However, it is now more important than ever for all those organisations to stick to their pledge. Despite there being a huge differential in price, the amount pig producers in this country are being paid has fallen below the cost of production.
“With our forecasts showing that there will be more pork available this year, demand for British pigs will need to be stronger for the price decline to reverse.”