Porkwatch survey shows fall in proportion of British pigmeat on retail shelves

The September AHDB Porkwatch survey shows the the proportion of British pork products sourced by the major UK retailers declined, compared with a year ago.

Across the 10 retailers surveyed, 87% of pork products on display in September were British, unchanged on July but down from 88% in September 2023.

Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all displayed 100% British pork, with Waitrose on 96% (100% own label), Tesco 78%, Asda 59% and Iceland just 1%.

For bacon, overall 54% of products on display were British, also unchanged on July, but down one percentage point on a year ago.

Co-op and M&S, both on 100%, and Waitrose 94% were the best performers. In contrast, Iceland (14%), Lidl (17%), Aldi (21%), Asda (26%) and Tesco (35%) were the worst.

A total of 61% of ham facings were British, down from 62% in July and 63% in September 2023, with M&S, Co-op and Waitrose (all (90%+) leading the way. Iceland (13%), Asda and Lidl (33%) and Morrisons (38%) all had plenty of room for improvement.

Sausage bucked the trend – 78% was British, the same as July, but up one percentage point from a year ago. M&S, Aldi, Waitrose and Lidl all recorded over 90% British, with all other retailers recording more than 70%, other than Co-op (69%) and, more predictably, Iceland (43%).

Retail pigmeat sales decline

Separate data from Kantar, collated by AHDB, shows UK retail pigmeat sales volumes declined by 2.3% in the 12 weeks to September 29. Despite a 1.8% increase in average prices paid, this resulted in spend on pigmeat declining by 0.6% year-on-year.

Volume purchases of primary cuts declined by 4%, driven by falls in pork steak (-11.5%) and chops (-3.9%) sales, despite average primary pork prices holding in line year-on-year.

Processed pigmeat volumes decreased by 4.1%, driven declines in sliced cooked meats (-6.4%), bacon (-4.9%) and sausages (-0.9%).

Added value was the only category to see overall volume increases, due to increases in sous vide (+15.9%) and marinades (+15.3%)

Pork was the only red meat to decline year-on-year, with beef volumes up 1.7% and lamb volumes up 5.5%.