Pork: What do I get for my levy?

In recent years, our pig meat has been exported to almost 100 countries and the industry has responded positively to shifting consumer trends in the home market. However, the agility of the sector will continue to be tested as we progressively become more exposed to global competition.

As a result we face the following challenges: 

• How can we sell every part of the pig for the best return at home or overseas?
• How do we continue to protect the reputation of pork and promote its benefits to consumers?
• How do we continue to improve animal health and welfare, and reduce our impact on the environment?
• How can we improve production efficiency in a way that supports the reputation of British pork, while remaining competitive at home and overseas?

The opportunities and challenges these questions raise cannot always be addressed by individual producers or processors acting alone. However, funded by your levy, we support the industry to position itself to both survive tough times and thrive when circumstances allow.

Below, you can find out how we support the pork sector to address these challenges.

How can we sell every part of the pig for the best return at home or overseas?

We invest over £19 million every year in marketing and export development to ensure that pork appeals to modern, busy households in the UK and appears on menus and in supermarkets around the world.

Market analysis

Our monthly Pork Talk videos are just one example of the regular market updates we provide, which analyse the latest developments for pig meat markets both at home and across the globe.

Used by individual businesses and industry professionals across the agricultural sector, our analysis provides unique insights into industry trends to help inform your business decisions.

How do we continue to protect the reputation of pork and promote its benefits to consumers?

In addition to our work to help influence consumer attitudes and perceptions around pork, we also support industry initiatives to help connect consumers with the farming sector and ensure that young audiences are well informed about where food comes from.

How do we continue to improve animal health and welfare, and reduce our impact on the environment?

We provide a wide variety of support services and tools to help all producers  breed and rear animals in optimal conditions. We also work closely with other organisations to ensure that, wherever possible, we can offer producers a holistic approach to managing animal health on farm.

How can we improve production efficiency in a way that supports the reputation of British pork, while remaining competitive?

We help producers understand and implement best practice methods for rearing, regardless of the size of pig herd. Our Lean Management programme is helping farmers understand how to apply the Lean methodology to their businesses to improve profit margins and production processes.

Advice and guidance on best practice methods

We work closely with other industry organisations such as the British Pig Association (BPA), the National Pig Association (NPA) and the Pig Veterinary Society (PVS) to ensure that we are always able to offer the most up-to-date advice and guidance on pig production and handling to all sizes of producers. Visit our homepage to explore our work in more detail.

Our principles of pig production webinar series, which is aimed at new entrants to the industry as well as those who want to refresh their knowledge, is an extremely popular series giving an overview of best practice through the different stages of pork production.