May 20, 2011

UK retailers urged to follow Sainsbury's regarding pork prices

The UK's National Pig Association has called for other retailers to follow Sainsbury's lead by paying farmers more for their pork.

Sainsbury's said on May 18 that it will make a discretionary payment of an additional GBP0.05 (US$0.08) per kilo until August 1 or until the Deadweight Average Pig Price (DAPP) stabilises to GBP1.50 (US$2.4) per kilo.

The retailer said that the move was in response to feed pricing more than doubling in the past two years, "putting severe pressures on the cost of production".

Commenting on the move, the National Pig Association's general manager, Barney Key, said that the group would like reassurance that the price hike would be included in the DAPP and paid across all pigs.

However, Key said the NPA "commends Sainsbury's for being the first of the big three to recognise the threat to the future of British pig production".

Nevertheless, he said that even with the extra GBP0.05 (US$0.08) per kilo, pig producers who supply Sainsbury's "will still be making a loss" - but that farmers will run up "less of a loss than Asda and Tesco suppliers are suffering".