Tesco urged by pig farmers to pay more for pork

The body representing pig farmers urged Tesco, its biggest customer, to pay more for pork or face more farmers going out of business

Pig farmers are urging Tesco to "do the right thing" and pay more or risk losing its British pork supply base.

The National Pig Association (NPA) said four out of five pig producers could go out of business within a year unless Tesco pays more for its pork.

The NPA said other supermarkets had already confirmed additional support for farmers who were facing rising costs and staff shortages.

Tesco said it "would like to do more" and was "working with our suppliers".

In an open letter to the supermarket giant dated 5 May, Rob Mutimer, Norfolk pig farmer and NPA chairman, accused Tesco of "continued inaction" after it failed to respond to calls for more support.

"Several of your competitors have already recognised the vital role they play in supporting British farmers and have taken action," he said.

The firms he referred to were the Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

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Mr Mutimer, who farms at Swannington, near Aylsham, said they were paying producers more for British pork through their dedicated supply chains.

"A similar commitment from Tesco would make an enormous difference," he said.

"Unless action is taken and a fair price is paid, there will not be a domestic pig industry left to service the demands of your shoppers and we know how much they value fresh British produce."

It said Waitrose had already pledged a new £16m support package and Sainsbury's had offered £2.8m in additional short-term support.

Pig farmer Simon Watchorn said a huge rise in feed prices, transport costs and staff shortages were making farming impossible

The NPA said the east of England was the biggest regional producer of pork in the UK.

Pig producer Simon Watchorn, from Earsham, near Bungay, said consumers "had been sold a lie that you can have cheap food".

He said pigs were being slaughtered and sold at a loss of £50 per pig in terms of the production cost and what the farmer was getting.

"That is completely unsustainable," he said.

Mr Watchorn said if supermarkets decided to import cheaper pork, then that would be the end of the British industry.

He said unless something was done, he expected to see the British pork industry shrink by at least 15% in the next year, with fewer independent farmers in the business.

By 2023 British pork will be in such short supply that most retailers will no longer be able to source it, the NPA claims

The NPA said the problems facing the sector had been building for two years, with labour shortages and Covid disruption in processing plants creating backlogs on farms.

This led to "the needless culling of tens of thousands of healthy pigs, many within your [Tesco's] own supply chain", the letter said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine had resulted in additional cost increases, with feed and oil prices going up by about 30%, the NPA said.

The NPA added 80% of pig farmers surveyed indicated that they would not survive the next 12 months if there was no improvement.

A spokesperson for Tesco, whose head office is in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, said: "We fully recognise the seriousness of the situation UK pig farmers are facing and have been working closely with our suppliers to understand what more we can do to support the sector.

"Through the buying models we already have in place, our suppliers have increased payments to farmers by £3.4m since March 2022.

"However we would like to do more and are actively working with our suppliers on a further enhanced payment plan to support farmers in the short term."

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