European Union mandatory origin labelling rules for fresh and frozen meat, which came into force in April, has seen a wave of interest among foodservice companies in sourcing pork from British farms, according to the National Pig Association (NPA).
"We are seeing a surge in enquiries from restaurants, pubs, hotels, and even fast-food caterers, and we hope to be able to announce in due course that some have decided to go the McDonald's route and source all-British pork and pork products," said NPA chief executive Dr Zoe Davies. "Some are interested in sourcing premium free-range pork and some want competitively-priced British commercial pork, but the common factor is an interest in being able to guarantee British provenance."
The new European labelling rule requires all packaging, including wholesale pork destined for foodservice outlets, to state the country or countries where the animals were reared and slaughtered. And it requires the origin statement to be backed by a paper trail back to the farm of origin, so the origin claim can be checked by regulators.
Whilst helping foodservice companies source pork and pork products to suit their individual price points, NPA is stressing the importance of mentioning British provenance on wall and table menus.
“If you sell British pork then it makes good business sense to advertise the fact,” said NPA chairman Richard Lister.
“British pig farmers have a reputation for exemplary animal welfare, and the eating quality of our product is superior too because unlike the continental europig industry which produces large quantities of carbon-copy pork, British pig farmers satisfy consumer desire for different production systems, such as outdoor free-range, outdoor-bred, and outdoor-reared pork.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
