The Pork Report

For the past few weeks the NPA has been taking a close look at how supermarkets are supporting British pork producers in the run up to Christmas.

For our Pork Report campaign, NPA staff visited all the major UK retailers retailers in several locations around the country to take a snapshot view of how they are supporting British pig farmers in the run up to Christmas.

Images from stores across the country were then posted on the Great British Pork (@GBPork) social media channels to illustrate examples of New Product Development, the prominence of pork in comparison to other proteins, whether pork was British or imported and how clearly it was displayed and labelled.

NPA members and supporters have been posting their own pictures, too. 

Here are some of the findings:

Aldi

• Some exciting new pork products, all using fresh British Pork.
• Commitment to 100% British Fresh Pork joints in stores, although we'd love to see more fresh British Gammon joints.
• Not all products were displayed tidily and the products looked a little messy (see below – we got a reply from Aldi on this one promising to contact the store!).

Asda

• Some new pork products on offer, but they were made using imported pork.
• Some British Pork joints, but the majority were imported.
• The pork was displayed in the same packing, but it was very hard to differentiate between British and European products (see below).
• A good Christmas selection of gammon at different prices and the pigs-in-blankets were all British.

Co-op

• Impressive variety of new products using British Pork.
• The pork on offer compared well to other proteins and was 100% British. We also found great support for local producers in the Co-op local stores.
• There were gaps on the shelves in some stores.
•  There were potentially misleading messages about the provenance of products in one East of England Co-op local store (see below)

Lidl 

• Disappointing to find few exciting new products.
• But impressed with the amount of British pork on offer, from mince to fillet and chops, with great use of the Red ‪Tractor logo on the shelves (see below).
• However, not a single British gammon found.
• Pork products easy to see and well labelled.

Marks & Spencer

• Highly impressed with the displays of Fresh British Pork, but also the bacon and gammon joints, all of which were 100% British.
• Also impressed with the amount of different products available (see below).
• Plenty of British Pork in the Christmas section, too, from gammons to spiced bacon, and flavoured pork stuffing.

Morrisons

• Impressed with the amount of different British pork products available, from trotters to flavoured meats (see below).
• Products really well presented and great to see some locally sourced meats in some stores.
• However, not impressed with the ham, described as Wiltshire Ham but produced using EU pork.
• Not many British Gammon Joints

Sainsbury’s

• Good to see a variety of different new pork-inspired products, all of which were 100% British (see below).
• Impressed with the commitment to British Pork and the amount of British Gammon and cooked ham on display.
• Great selection of British Bacon and sausages in all the stores visited.
• Disappointed it has started to use a ‘fake farm’ name for some products, the origin of which is unclear. 
• Sad to find that fresh pork was given little shelf space compared to other meats.

Tesco

• Pleased by the amount of new products on the shelf, but a shame that many were made using imported meat.
• Variable shelf space given to fresh pork depending on the store.
• Products labelled under the ‘Woodside Farms’ brands were of mixed origin but were only identifiable as British by the use of a union flag, while the products were all mixed on the same shelf (see below).

Waitrose

• Some great new pork products, all using British Pork (see below).
• Also plenty of Christmas pork products and all using British Pork.
• Plenty of fresh British pork and good shelf space given over to pork in general.
• In some stores the shelves had gaps and were untidy with other meats creeping into the clearly labelled pork section.

Too see the full Pork Report so far, go the @GBPork Twitter feed and/or look for #ThePorkReport

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said: “This exercise was designed to highlight both good and bad practice within retailers in the run up to Christmas.

“We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of British New Product Development out there among the retailers we visited. There was generally good support for British pork products and clear labelling in most cases. 

“However,  there was still plenty that some of the retailers could do to support British producers including increasing the pork offer, displaying the product more attractively and clearly defining which products were British by physically separating them from imported.” 

Images will continue to be posted on the @GBPork Twitter feed and NPA members and supporters are encouraged to keep sending the pictures in.