February 1, 2012

UK chooses pork over beef, lamb on price issue

After big jumps in beef and lamb prices over the past year, pork is becoming the meat of choice for Britain's cash-strapped households.

Prime cuts of pork are GBP9 (US$14.18) a kilogramme, less than a third of the cost of beef, according to Cranswick, the major supplier to Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets. Pork sales gained market share over the festive season, fattening on-year sales by 10% in the last quarter.

Cranswick's finance director, Mark Bottomley, said: "For the first time over Christmas we saw some evidence [of trading down] with some retailers selling fewer turkeys and more pork."

Pork prices are relatively low because there is far less export demand as well as a plentiful supply.