Tag: farmers

– Great seasonal pork deals for customers during November –

Morrisons is lending a helping hand to struggling pig farmers by reducing the price our customers pay for pork and increasing the amount of meat we prepare. The measures are aimed at helping to alleviate the current pressures faced by pig farmers. 

Morrisons is cutting the price of seasonal cuts of pork – such as joints, chops, bellies and steaks – to encourage customers to support farmers and buy more pork products.  

Throughout November, the following special prices will be running across Morrisons Market Street counters:

Product	Price per k/g
Morrisons British Bone In Pork Loin	£3 per k/g
Morrisons British  Bone In Pork Loin Chop	£3 per k/g
Morrisons British Pork Shoulder Steaks	£2 per k/g
Morrisons British Bone In Pork Shoulder	£2 per k/g
Morrison British Bone In Pork Belly	£3 per k/g
Morrisons The Best Thick Pork Butcher Counter Sausages (six pack)	£1 per pack
Morrisons Thick Pork Sausages (20 pack)	£2 per pack

Britain is a significant exporter of pork. However, in recent months a labour shortage of skilled workers, as well as increased difficulties in exporting, has left the industry with a growing backlog of pork.

Morrisons understands the issues faced by farmers because we are a producer of meat as well as a retailer. Alongside the industry, in recent weeks, we have already changed our meat cuts because stock is growing larger on farms before reaching our meat preparation sites. 

We have also invested in automating our sites and are adopting new ways of working to enable us to take up to 3,000 more animals per week.

In addition, to speed up the process and get pork to our customers quickly, our in-store butchers will now be receiving more bone-in pork joints from our own sites – and then using their skills to finish the products ready for customers in store.  

Morrisons is committed to only selling 100% fresh British meat. As the only major UK supermarket with our own meat preparation sites, we are continuing to invest in our butchers – both in our sites and stores. This September, 75 colleagues joined our 18 month butchery apprenticeship programme. 

In addition to supplying pork to our own stores, throughout November our meat sites will also be supporting the wider pig industry by supplying additional pork for sale outside of Morrisons. This meat will either be exported outside of the UK or sold domestically to smaller butchers as whole carcasses. 

Sophie Throup, Head of Agriculture at Morrisons, said: “The British pig industry is struggling at the moment. As a meat producer as well as a retailer we believe we are well placed to help.

“We will therefore be offering our customers great deals on pork throughout the month, as well as trying to help the whole industry to prepare more meat.”

Rob Mutimer, Chairman of The National Pig Association, said: “The National Pig Association is delighted that Morrisons continues to support the British pig sector with their proactive approach in finding solutions to help alleviate the significant difficulties our farmers still face. Anything retailers can do to promote British pork to their customers is warmly welcomed.”  

Morrisons is British farming’s biggest supermarket customer with our own Livestock and Produce Teams. We work directly with farmers, and take meat, fruit and vegetables direct from farms to our meat, fruit and vegetable preparation sites around the UK. 

Seasonal pork recipes from Morrisons chefs can be found on:

https://my.morrisons.com/porkrecipes 

National Craft Butchers (NCB), the trade body representing quality independent retail butchers, launched their first ever survey of British Butchers in July 2021, reaching out butchery businesses across Britain. The results are now out and demonstrate just why butchers are the first choice for consumers concerned about climate change.

Sustainability and provenance are growing concerns for consumers and for British Butchers alike. Reducing food miles and supporting regenerative farming practices and the rural economy is ‘meat and drink’ to the majority of craft butchers:

• 87% of respondents prioritise local produce in their shops
• 6 out of 10 prefer to sell Grass fed, Organic or Free-Range meat
• 38% will buy animals live direct from market for full traceability
• Two-thirds rely on a small local abattoir to supply their meat

Over the last 18 months shopping habits have changed, with the survey revealing that

60% of butchers have experienced changes in their usual customer profile since March 2020 – the biggest change being the arrival of younger shoppers who want to shop locally and care about where their meat comes from.

Red meat produced in the UK is amongst the most sustainable in the world, so consumers can be confident that British livestock production is part of the solution not the problem. Recent information from AHDB, QMS and HCC points out that 65% of farmland in the UK is unable to sustain food crops but is ideal for grazing cattle and sheep and that the UK Climate is also ideal for growing grass for animals to eat.

In other words, ‘It’s not the cow but the how.’

Richard Stevenson, Technical Manager of National Craft Butchers commented: “As COP26 continues the results of our first Butchers Survey are a timely reminder that British Craft Butchers, like the farmers that supply them, take climate change seriously.

“They sell high quality, responsibly farmed British meat because they believe it’s the best, and so, in increasing numbers, do their customers. ”

National Craft Butchers encourage customers who care about where their meat comes from and how it is produced to visit their local craft butcher.