Tesco announces £10m support for pig sector

Tesco has announced a total of £10m in funding for the UK pig industry to offset soaring on-farm costs.

The UK’s largest supermarket chain has provided £3.4m in increased payments to farmers through its suppliers since March 2022, and has now committed to a further £6.6m until August through an enhanced payment plan.

Tesco also announced a range of measures to support the sector in the short term and has committed to reviewing prices more frequently in the longer term.

See also: Pig and arable business has positive outlook despite tumultuous year

The news follows growing pressure on the supermarket chain from the National Pig Association (NPA) and the wider industry to increase its support.

Other retailers, including Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S, Asda, Aldi, and the Co-op, have already offered support to the pig sector.

NPA chairman Rob Mutimer said: “We are very pleased that Tesco has responded with some much-needed extra financial support for the pig industry following our letter to chief executive Ken Murphy.”

Mr Mutimer said the support was a very welcome boost for beleaguered pig farmers, who were facing unprecedented costs of production and needed a tangible increase in the price paid in order to stay in business.

“We look forward to seeing the pig price rising very soon as a result of this action and, hopefully, we can begin to stem the flow of producers exiting the industry,” he said.

Further support

Tesco has taken an additional 32,000 pigs since January to help reduce the backlog on farm and are expecting to take a further 22,000 animals in the coming months.

The retailer has also outlined a variety of other measures it has implemented to increase sales of UK pork, and support the sector:

• Increasing more fresh lines of British pork, including five lines that have been moved to British supply
• Introducing 15 additional promotions for pork products since January
• Launching its “I Love British” brand for its bacon range, with a contribution of 5p for each pack being passed back to producers in the supply chain
• Growing its Finest range, which is certified by the Red Tractor and RSPCA schemes
• Increasing the volume of its British pork products by 30% compared with last year. 

Tesco fresh commercial director, Dominic Morrey, 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.

“We know there is more to do, and we will be working with suppliers, farmers and the wider industry to drive more transparency and sustainability across our supply chains and support the future of the British pig industry.”

Jim Brisby, chief commercial officer for Tesco pork supplier Cranswick, said: “We’ve been working with Tesco to find a more sustainable way of paying our farmers for pigs, and we are pleased with the progress we have made to increase the availability of British pork to Tesco shoppers, and are continuing to work with the team to significantly increase these volumes even further over the next few months.”