Praise for Waitrose's free range pork ‘global supermarket first’
The chair of the Red Tractor Pigs Board has welcomed Waitrose announcing plans to source all its own-label British pork from free range farms by 2027, in what the retailer has claimed is a global supermarket first.
Stewart Houston, whose long career has included farming pigs between Bedale and Ripon, said the retailers’ move to also only stock free range pork mince, steaks, chops and joints on its shelves from October 15 represented a boost for the industry, which is Yorkshire’s most valuable agricultural product by a significant margin.
The retailer has claimed the move will guarantee quality and taste for shoppers while supporting British farmers and raising animal welfare standards.
Charlotte Di Cello, chief commercial officer at Waitrose, said the retailer “believes that happy pigs make the best pork”. She added: “Our commitment to 100 per cent British free range across all our Waitrose products reflects our dedication to providing our customers with unbeatable quality, taste, and value with values.”
While some industry insiders beleve Waitrose’s pledge is likely to increase pressure on competitors to follow suit, Mr Houston, a leading figure for many years at The National Pig Association and also a former BPEX chair, believes its impact on the industry could be limited.
He said: "They’ve all got their own customer profile that they know well and they try to meet their customers’ needs.
"Free range is premium, it lifts the average price a bit. There’s a limit to it, because there’s a limit to how much good land there is for outdoor pigs.
"There’s no way we could go 100 per cent outdoor-bred or free range because there’s just not enough good land.”
Yorkshire is the UK's leading pig breeding region, accounting for 37 per cent of the national output, but most of the country’s outdoor production is concentrated in sandy areas in the east, and in particular East Anglia.
Mr Houston said it would be unlikely that consumer demand would move heavily towards free range, but if it did it could present an issue for the region’s industry due to the availability of land.
He said: “There’s a huge amount of pig production in Yorkshire, all to good welfare standard levels and there’s a lot more indoor than outdoor. There will always be a market for good qualty indoor-bred. It will always be at the right price point for the majority of consumers. For outdoor production it’s got to be good quality land – put it on the wrong soil and it’s a bit of a nightmare. It’s got to be free-draining, otherwise it’s difficult to manage.”
He said there had been an increased interest in free range pigs in recent months and Waitrose’s move had not come as a surprise.
Mr Houston said: “It’s Waitrose meeting their consumer needs.”
Other supermarkets offer outdoor-bred and higher-welfare pork, but none has committed to a fully free range range. You could describe it as a milestone. They have got a very tight supply chain, so they’ve obviously been working with the supply chain to make sure they’ve got enough product to it. It’s good for the industry.”