Pig farmers urge Tesco to help crisis-hit sector or risk losing UK supply base

theguardian.com:

Tesco has been criticised over its failure to support crisis-hit British pig farmers, as smaller rival Waitrose extended a £16m lifeline to help suppliers manage the jump in production costs caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

In an open letter to Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy, the National Pig Association (NPA) said the retailer risked losing its British supply base if it did not pay a “fair price” for its pork.

“Paying a little more today is likely to save you money in the long term,” said the NPA’s chair, Rob Mutimer, in the letter. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time, and each week that passes puts pig farmers further into the red.”

Mutimer highlighted an industry poll that said four out of five producers would go out of business within a year unless their financial situation improved. The UK’s biggest retailer was uniquely positioned to act to prevent the “destruction of the UK pig sector”, he said.

“A relatively modest investment by Tesco will not only prevent the destruction of the sector, but it will mean that British pork will still be available at a price affordable to your customers,” added Mutimer, who pointed to the retailer’s recent doubling of annual profits to more than £2bn.

Pig farmers are quitting the industry after a disastrous 2021, when an export slump, combined with Covid disruption andBrexit-related shortages of abattoir workers, resulted in a cull of healthy pigs. Now they are dealing with soaring farm costs as disruption resulting from the invasion of Ukraine pushes up the cost of commodities such as wheat and soya.

The NPA said the industry had faced an unprecedented crisis over the past 18 months, with the price shock caused by the war turning a “very challenging financial situation