The Co-op has announced a 拢19 million package for its pig farmer suppliers and has challenged other retailers to 鈥済o the whole hog鈥� by switching to British supply.
The retailer, which has a 6% share of the market, will link prices to the costs of production to help address crisis-level pressures in the sector.
Helping more British farmers
鈥淚t鈥檚 not too late for supermarkets to do their bit to help more British farmers,鈥� said Co-op Food Co-MD Matt Hood.
Pig producers have seen soaring input costs, an acute labour shortage that led to a processing backlog of up to 150,000 animals, and a decline in exports, leading to a 鈥渇low of producers exiting the industry鈥�, in the words of the NPA (National Pig Association).
NPA call for retailers to do more
The move follows a pledge from Tesco to provide 拢6.6 million of 鈥榓ccelerated and enhanced payments鈥� for its suppliers, after a call from the NPA for Britain鈥檚 biggest retailer to do more.
Tesco says its measures will take its support since March past 拢10m, including buying 54,000 extra pigs, in-store promotions and moving more lines to British supply.
NFU urging supermarkets to take action
皇家华人urged 鈥渁ll supermarkets to take similar action鈥� in April, after Waitrose tabled a 拢16m pig crisis package and Sainsbury鈥檚 said it would invest 拢2.8m.
鈥淢ost of the big retailers have now acted in some way to inject more money into the supply chain,鈥� said NPA chair Rob Mutimer.
He said the price pledges were very welcome, but added that with a spot price at 173p/kg and average costs estimated at more than 230p/kg, many pig farmers faced a bleak outlook.
Farmers surviving week to week
鈥淭he reality is that our beleaguered pig producers remain under huge pressure and, in many cases, are battling just to survive from week to week,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e still need to see more from some retailers.鈥�