NPA welcomes Co-op switch to 100% British bacon

The NPA has welcome the move by Co-op to switch to 100% British bacon from the start of May.

From today, Co-op stores will provide only 100% fresh British bacon and lamb – dropping Danish bacon and New Zealand lamb. In doing so, the convenience retailer said it has become the first national retailer to switch all of the fresh meat which bears its name to British.

It already only sells British beef, chicken, ham, pork, sausages, duck and turkey and only uses British meat in all its own-label chilled ready meals, pies and sandwiches.

The retailer is aiming to ram home its British credentials to consumers by launching a £10m campaign this week focusing on the benefits of sourcing from British local farmers. Full-page prints ads will appear in national newspapers while a TV campaign airs later.

The Co-op, which announced the move in September, said almost a tenth of all meat imports into the UK come from Denmark, which exports £550m worth of meat into Britain each year, while New Zealand lamb accounts for £291m worth of UK imports.

Meat imports by UK firms are up from £5.87bn in 2015 to £6.21bn in 2016. They have risen by a third since 2006, when they totalled £4.7bn, the company added.

100% fresh British meat

Jo Whitfield, Co-op retail chief executive, said: “British consumers will be shocked to see how meat imports have grown while at the same time retailers hang out the bunting and claim to back British farmers.

"Only the Co-op offers 100% British fresh meat all year round and not just in the meat cabinet but also in our sandwiches, our pies and our ready meals.

“We can do this because we’re owned by members not shareholders and can invest long-term in what matters to communities, not what provides the fastest shareholder return. I call on other retailers and food providers to do more to help our farmers, particularly as they head towards uncertain times.”

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said: “Around half of the pork consumed in the UK is imported. Fluctuating currency markets and imports which are cheaper because of lower welfare standards can significantly impact the cost of home produced pork, making it harder for farmers to make a living.

“We call on more retailers and food providers to back British and either source more UK pork or follow the Co-op’s lead and go 100% British.”

Zoe welcomed the Co-op's 'public commitment to backing British pork' during an interview on Radio 4's Farming today (you can hear it here, from 9 minutes).  

Zoe said: "This is a major retailer actually sticking by one of their commitments. We quite often hear things being said in the press or directly to us - 'yes, we are going to support British, we are going to increase the volume that we sell' - but very rarely does it actually come about, which is why this shift is very welcome." 

Meat imports double 

The retailer has published figures showing that meat imports into the UK have doubled over the last 20 years and has called on more supermarkets and food service providers to back home-grown goods.

According to its research: 

Since 1996, the quantity of meat coming to the UK from the European Union and other countries has soared from £3bn to £6.2bn.

• More than £5bn worth of meat is now shipped from European Union member states
• Asia and Oceania countries account for £804m worth of imports followed by Latin America at £345m
• Asian and Oceanic imports have seen their exports to the UK almost treble from £304m in 1996
• The biggest imports from that region come from Thailand (£423m) and New Zealand (£291m)
• Ireland is the biggest beneficiary of EU meat trade with the UK, with £1.45bn of meat arriving in the UK from across the Irish Sea.