Chris Brant Award winner Anna Longthorp has called for fairness in the pork supply chain, as pig producers continue to lose money in the run-up to Christmas.
BBC Look North covered the industry’s plight last night, highlighting the threats to pork staples, pigs in blankets and joints of ham, as soaring costs of production saw producers losing, on average, £28/pig, according to the latest AHDB figures.
Anna, a Yorkshire pig farmer and one of the driving forces behind the Bite Into British campaign, told the programme that the imbalance of power between retailers and producers remains.
“The pressure is just immense and it’s been going on for so long. We thought it would be over by now, but it’s like we being pummelled. There’s loads and loads of profit going on at the top but the farmers are just losing money hand over fist,” she said.
She pointed out that she was only able to speak out on behalf of other producers because she was no longer part of retail supply chains, adding that the butchers and farm shops she sells to treat her fairly and pay a fair price.
Retailers told the programme they were also concerned about the cost of living crisis facing consumers and wanted to keep prices down.
“These big supermarkets consistently make mega profits, while farmers have been losing money for two years, so there’s plenty of money in that supply chain. It’s case of distributing that fairly,” Anna responded,
“We don’t want people to pay more for it, but if the supermarkets can’t change that percentage profit margin, if they won’t do that, then they’re showing responsibility’s towards consumers, I would argue that a large corporation like that should also show a moral responsibility towards their suppliers.”
- You can view the feature ( approx 1 min, 40 seconds) HERE
Anna Longthorp also phoned into LBC’s James O’Brien show yesterday. She began by explaining, in response to a previous call, that pig farmers are not subsidised and went onto explain what has been happening within the industry over the past year, including the issues around supply chain relations.
The presenter clearly expressed sympathy over what has been happening to pig producers. “A country full of food banks is burying pork because the supply chain is such an almighty mess. It’s incredible, isn’t it?” he said at one point.
- You can view the call HERE