AHDB markets best-value pork to families in £250,000 campaign

A new AHDB pork marketing campaign will encourage families to buy best-value cuts such as shoulder, sausages and lean mince to create affordable and nutritious meals.

The cost-of-living crisis has increased food bills, but the advertisements will promote recipes that can feed a family of four for less than £5, with some recipes costing less than £1 a person.

The £250,000 autumn campaign runs from 17 October until 25 November and consumers will see the adverts across social media, during on-demand TV shows, plus in the aisles and on the websites of eight supermarket chains.

See also: AHDB to outline five-year spending plan at November meeting

The strapline is “Feed the family for less with pork”, and the AHDB says the adverts will show off the affordability, versatility, and tastiness of the meat.

UK pig producers are in a dire situation, with pig prices still below average production costs.

Those in England and Wales have endured seven successive quarters of negative margins, and cumulative losses are estimated at £600m since autumn 2020, AHDB figures show.

Results from the levy board’s “Shape the Future” consultation revealed that pork producers want the AHDB to protect the reputation of the meat and promote its benefits to consumers.

This included educating the “consumers of the future”, something which this new campaign aims to do.

© AHDB

Carrie McDermid, AHDB’s head of marketing, said: “Pork is presented as a good-value protein that meets consumers’ needs when they are trying to reduce the amount they spend on their weekly shop.

“Also, we have worked with retailers to gain agreement to apply more than a million stickers to pork packs with a QR code linking to budget-friendly recipes.

“The campaign aims to raise consumer awareness of pork’s positive role in healthy meal choices during the current cost-of-living crisis and addresses concerns that people are having to cut meat from their diets.”

The Future of Farming 

The AHDB will set out its five-year spending plan to levypayers at a major strategy meeting in November.

Sector councils will outline the new priorities for Beef and Lamb, Cereals and Oilseeds, Dairy and Pork during the “Delivering the Future of Farming” online event on 10 November.

Levypayers can register for the Future of Farming event on the AHDB website.