Struggling pig farms hope for campaign sales boost

The £2m national marketing campaign is using messages like “Grill it before you Buy It,” and “No More Porkies” to encourage consumers to sign up online to a new promise to look for the Red Tractor mark while shopping.

The campaign, which will span 12 months, is being launched this week using billboards across the country as well as national press, women’s weeklies, specialist consumer food titles and online media. It has been launched in response to another torrid year for the region’s pig farming industry which is still struggling to make ends meet.

Britain’s pig farmers operate to some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, which comes at an increased cost in terms of overheads.

However, supermarkets continue to stock masses of imported pork from countries operating at far lower welfare standards and with cheaper production costs. Around two thirds of pork imported into the UK does not currently meet UK welfare stands and would be illegal to produce in this country.

On top of this feed costs have rocketed, meaning farmers have been losing as much as £20 on every pig they rear for the past 12 months.

In all, UK pig farmers have lost more than £100m in the past year alone and the UK pig herd has decreased by about 40 per cent over the past decade. The pork industry is fighting back, however, warning that if more farmers are forced out of business shoppers will lose the opportunity to buy high welfare, high-quality pork.

The campaign is also being supported by a wide range of celebrities including Jimmy Doherty of TV’s Jimmy’s Farm, respected chef Brian Turner and former Slade front man Noddy Holder.

Vicky Morgan, who rears pigs near Driffield in East Yorkshire, said: “This campaign is vital to pig farmers in the region like me.

“We’ve been suffering losses for more than a year now. But we know that people in this country are keen to support high welfare standards.

“Our aim is to get them thinking more about welfare when buying their pork, bacon, sausages and ham and looking for the Red Tractor mark on pack. Asking them to sign up to the promise will encourage them to give more consideration to welfare issues.”

The Red Tractor Pork logo indicates the quality and country of origin of the pork, that it has been produced to high animal welfare standards, is traceable back to the farms and independently inspected at every stage of production.

The campaign aims to encourage thousands of shoppers to sign up to the “Pork Promise” at www.lovepork.co.uk or www.facebook.com/lovepork.uk.

The promise reads: “From this day forth I promise to give more thought to the pork on my fork, to think twice about whether it’s quality pork produced by farmers who prioritise the well-being of their pigs. Visitors who sign the promise can also download a selection of recipes from some of the UK’s top chefs.”

The campaign has also received Government backing. Farming Minister Jim Paice said: “We produce great quality pork in Britain and farm to high welfare standards. I will be signing this pledge and I urge everyone to look out for the red tractor logo.”

Chris Lamb, head of marketing for BPEX, which represents pig levy payers in England said: “Clear quality marks like the Red Tractor make choosing higher welfare pork easy.

“But this is much more than just a traditional ad campaign to raise awareness of the logo. We want shoppers to actively sign up to the promise on the lovepork website or Facebook and then really consider welfare when buying pork, bacon, sausages and ham. We are sure it is a commitment consumers will be keen to make.”