What’s behind the increase in UK pork imports

Published 2022년 12월 1일

Tridge summary

The UK has seen a 13% increase in pig meat imports in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, but an 8% decrease compared to 2019 due to Brexit and Covid-19 impacts. The country has been importing larger quantities of boneless pig meat recently, likely due to domestic staff shortages. Despite the cost of living crisis, food service volumes have increased by 23%. Breakfast meals have seen the biggest growth in pork volumes, with an additional 14.8m kg of pork sold. This supports the growth seen in imports, as bacon and sausage categories have seen the largest year-on-year growth. However, the English pig breeding herd has fallen by 18% year on year, and production costs are high, suggesting a slow recovery in pig numbers and a continued increase in imported pork volumes.
Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

September’s trade figures show that so far this year (Jan-Sep) the UK has imported 587,300 tonnes of pig meat (excluding offal). Although this is a 13% increase in volume compared to this time last year, comparisons to 2021 and 2020 are not fairly comparable due to the impacts of adjusting to new Brexit trading and covid-19 restrictions. If we compare current imports to those from 2019, volumes are lower in 2022 by 50,500 tonnes (-8%). Data from earlier this year shows that the UK appeared to be making use of butchery abroad to produce the specific cuts in demand as staff shortages limited domestic butchery capacity. Prior to the pandemic and Brexit, bone-in products were imported in larger volumes than boneless, however in late 2021 and early 2022 this switched. Despite our summer outlook forecasting that total UK demand for pork would fall 2% (across 2022) due to the cost of living crisis, food service volumes are up 23% year on year (52 weeks ending 4 Sep). Covid restrictions ...
Source: Ahdb

Would you like more in-depth insights?

Gain access to detailed market analysis tailored to your business needs.
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes. To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.