Waitrose wins award for ‘transforming British pork’

Heather Jenkins, director for buying for meat, poultry, fish, frozen and dairy at Waitrose, received the award – the first time it has been made to a retailer.

Presenting the award at the House of Lords yesterday (November 7), Mick Sloyan, chief executive of BPEX, said: “Heather’s support for British pig farming at times of severe volatility of input costs and finished pig prices has been a stabilising influence at times of uncertainty.”​

Radical overhaul​

In accepting the award, Jenkins congratulated the UK pig meat sector for its resilience and entrepreneurial spirit. However, she also called for a radical overhaul of the UK’s pig meat supply chain to ensure it prospered in the future.

“There is no doubt in my mind that innovation has to play a significant part in giving consumers what they want and a more viable sector for this industry,” ​said Jenkins.

“I would encourage those who want to encourage a long-term prosperous pig sector to think about a step change that needs to take place now. While culture, strategy and leadership are all catalysts for sustainable change, to my mind the main ingredient is farmers.”​

She added that farmers needed to work together in a way that had not been done before “to shape the future, building more robust supply chains, encouraging investment at farm level and fostering confidence for the long term”.​

Meanwhile, Tesco announced today (November 8) that it would work directly with UK beef and pig farmers in a new deal worth £25M​ a year.