Tesco to help British pig farmers

Tesco’s planned Sustainable Farming Group for Pigs could mark a turning point in the fortunes of the industry, the National Pig Association has said.

“British pig-keepers have been plagued by short-term supply chains and volatile costs, which have prevented them from investing for the future,” said general manager Dr Zoe Davies.

“The new direct supply contracts announced by Tesco should be available for around 140 pig-keepers early 2013, and in NPA’s view could help transform British pig production.”

The NPA has worked closely with Tesco on the new supply contracts and sees them introducing an unprecedented level of transparency in the supply chain for high welfare, independently-audited British pork.

The new Tesco whole-carcase supply group will be administered by a farmer-led committee which will review prices every month, taking into account the impact of feed costs on cost of production.

“This transparency and the direct linking of pig price to increasingly volatile costs should bring benefits to the whole chain through fairer sharing of risk and reward,” said NPA chairman Richard Longthorp.