Waitrose to sell only British pork
Daily Telegraph -- The supermarket group Waitrose is to stop selling foreign pork and bacon by the end of this year, as part of its drive to support beleagured British pig farmers.
While meat prices have soared on supermarket shelves over the last year, the price of pork has increased at a slower rate and bacon prices are virtually unchanged.
Waitrose has been backing a "Save our Bacon" campaign this year and it hopes by banning foreign pork it will help highlight the issue once again.
Most supermarkets – to help keep their prices down for shoppers – have increasingly relied on Danish and Dutch pork, which tends to be far cheaper.
The reliance on imports has led the UK pig herd to halve from 8 million pigs in 1996 to about 4 million this year.
Six out of ten rashers of bacon sold in British food shops now come from overseas.
Natalie Mitchell, senior meat buyer at Waitrose, said: "British pig farmers produce some of the world's best pork – and they need our support now more than ever before.
"It would be an absolute travesty if Britain were to lose one of its finest farming industries at a time when Britain is sourcing large quantities of bacon from abroad.
Stewart Houston, Chairman of both the National Pig Association and the British Pig Executive said: "This is very good news for the British pig industry and Waitrose is to be congratulated for the move."
While meat prices have soared on supermarket shelves over the last year, the price of pork has increased at a slower rate and bacon prices are virtually unchanged.
Waitrose has been backing a "Save our Bacon" campaign this year and it hopes by banning foreign pork it will help highlight the issue once again.
Most supermarkets – to help keep their prices down for shoppers – have increasingly relied on Danish and Dutch pork, which tends to be far cheaper.
The reliance on imports has led the UK pig herd to halve from 8 million pigs in 1996 to about 4 million this year.
Six out of ten rashers of bacon sold in British food shops now come from overseas.
Natalie Mitchell, senior meat buyer at Waitrose, said: "British pig farmers produce some of the world's best pork – and they need our support now more than ever before.
"It would be an absolute travesty if Britain were to lose one of its finest farming industries at a time when Britain is sourcing large quantities of bacon from abroad.
Stewart Houston, Chairman of both the National Pig Association and the British Pig Executive said: "This is very good news for the British pig industry and Waitrose is to be congratulated for the move."
