UK still highly dependent on EU for its pork

The United Kingdom might slowly increase its domestic pork production but still remains highly dependent on the EU for its pork.

In the first 11 months of 2024, the Brits imported no less than 249,000 tonnes of fresh pork from its European neighbours, 12,000 tonnes more than in the same period the year before. The import of frozen pork came to 61,500 tonnes, an increase of 7,000 tonnes. The Brits also consumed 142,900 tonnes of European sausages, which was 7,000 tonnes higher y-o-y, as well as 162,500 tonnes of bacon, a small decrease of 3,400 tonnes compared to a year earlier.

In value, the total imports of pork, bacon, sausages and other pork products in the first 11 months of last year was £2,7 billion (€3,25 billion), just £30,000 (€36,000) less than a year earlier.

So where does all that pork go to ? A lot is destined for the processing industry or the hospitality sector, like roadside restaurants or the famous ‘creasy spoons’ that serve a proper English breakfast or bacon sandwich. However, a large amount of the imported bacon also goes to the retail channel. The last regular survey Pork Watch of the National Pig Association shows that just 65 to 85% of all bacon sold in the large British supermarket is from the EU, with the Netherlands and Denmark as main suppliers. Market leader Tesco stocks 36% of British bacon, the German discounter Lidl just 17%.

For sausages, the picture is slightly better, with on average 78% from UK processors. Pork itself appears to be more a product where British counts for the customer, because here 88% is from the UK. Large supermarkets like Morrisons and Sainsbury, food retailer Marks & Spencer and even Aldi sell 100% British pork.

The British pig industry is trying hard to gain a larger market share, also in other sectors than retail. After the crisis of the last few years, the slaughter figures and pork production are slowly increasing. In December, clean pig slaughtering were 10% higher y-o-y at 852,000 head, while pork production was 8.9% higher at 77, 000 tonnes, recent figures from the department for food and rural affairs Defra show. In the first month of the new year, the increase of the slaughter figure slowed down to 4.5% at 868,000 heads with pork production 4.6% higher at 82,000 tonnes.

However, the NPA recently also reported that the margin for British pig producers almost halved in the last quarter of 2024. on the back of rising feed costs and lower pig prices, although the sector remained comfortably in the black, on average. The quarterly update from levy board AHDB showed average margins fell from £19/head in Q3 2024 to £10/head in the last three months. The fall was due to higher cost of production, mainly feed, and lower pig prices. NPA Chairman Rob Mutimer was still positive in his new year’s message: ‘’This year has seen a reasonably stable pig market with producers seeing positive margins in all four quarters. Although the market prices have dropped in the last two quarters, we have been fortunate that the cereals and protein prices have continued to be competitive through the year, even with a very small UK 2024 harvest.’’

Tags: pork, Production, imports, pig industry, United Kingdom, sausages, fresh pork, frozen pork, bacon