Cranswick Country Foods Plc has notified BPEX that it will no longer be participating in the voluntary Dead Weight Average Pig Price (DAPP) sample.
The company gave notice to BPEX that it would be withdrawing its sample from its pig abattoirs in Preston and Watton. It has been participating in the DAPP since the recordings were established back in May 2003.
The other companies / abattoirs which voluntarily contribute to the DAPP price reporting survey are Tulip Ltd., Karro Food Group, HG Blake, Cheale Meats Ltd., FA Gill, Dunbia, Woodhead Brothers and Lamberts. BPEX's Andrew Knowles, head of communications and supply chain development said: "There is currently still a robust enough sample remaining, despite Cranswick's withdrawal."
The DAPP is, at the moment, still used as the basis for the weekly EU reference price report to the European Commission and provides historic reporting. However, it has increasingly been used to forecast or determine future values of pigs, which, says Knowles: "It should never be used for."
Should other leading players follow Cranswick's lead the reporting of recorded prices seems likely to change, with perhaps the seller participating, rather than the buyer.
Neither Cranswick or Tulip was available for comment.
Subsequently in a late statement, Andrew Saunders, agricultural director for Tulip said: "There are no existing plans for Tulip Ltd to exit DAPP and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further."
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.
