Case Study: Scottish Pig Industry

This case study covers the following points:

Scottish Pig Industry 

Introduction To Scottish Pig Producers Ltd

Operating in the unsupported sector of agriculture has forced Scottish pig producers to be poractive and work collaboratively with the rest of the industry. In such a highly competitive industry, which relies heavily on imported pig meat, the survival of pig producers in Scotland depends on their ability to innovate, to work collaboratively in the supply chain, and to quickly adopt best practice. The success of the Scottish pig industry is such that it is regarded as the UK benchmark, and the one that the rest of the livestock sectors could learn from.  Gordon McKen, Managing Director of Scottish Pig Producers Ltd (SPP), is quick to acknowledge the importance of working collaboratively in the chain.  “Without a collaborative approach we wouldn’t have a Scottish pig industry today, it’s that simple.”

Scottish Pig Producers Ltd (SPP) is a marketing co-operative with a membership of some 120 pig producers.  The group handles more than half of Scotland’s weekly production of 14,000 finished pigs.  Rationalisation in the pig processing sector in Scotland has resulted in one major plant, based in Broxburn near Edinburgh.  The plant, owned by Grampian Country Pork Halls, has recently benefited from a £20 million investment, making it one of the most modern in the country. 

The Commercial Drivers for Collaboration in the Chain

An example of the Scottish pig sector’s collaborative and innovative approach was the establishment of the first slaughter disease surveillance scheme in the UK.  Wholesome Pigs (Scotland) Ltd was the producer co-operative formed to manage the health scheme where pig carcases are regularly monitored post-slaughter to assess the presence of any clinical disease.  Quarterly reports from each pig herd are then sent to each producer and their vet.  The combination of Pig Health Monitoring and traceability are providing benefits in terms of reduced use of antibiotics and medicines, eradication of diseases, reduced production costs and the ability to promote a healthy more ‘wholesome’ product in the market.  Producers, processors, retailers and consumers alike all enjoy the benefits the programme provides.

Now Scottish producers are turning to a new challenge.  Scottish pork and bacon, apart from its niche markets, has generally languished within the commodity market.  Multiple retailers have used bacon specifically, and pork to a lesser extent, to attract shoppers by promoting own-brand value rather than quality; until recently that is, since  ‘Scottish’ provenance has become a focus for increasing value. “Produced and processed in Scotland is no longer sufficient to promote our product and satisfy consumers,” said Mr McKen.  “We have to produce a product which is better than the rest and recognised by the retailer and consumer as such.”

What are the Key Working Relationships and how are they Maintained?

The challenges for the industry is to align itself with consumer expectations of the Scottish brand, now being promoted by retailers, and also to increase Scottish pork consumption.  Research commissioned by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), the levy organisation responsible for promoting meat in Scotland, indicated that ‘Scottish’ or ‘Scotch’ has the potential to increase value in line with overall product quality, where meat ‘quality’ is tender, juicy and the right colour; the question producers asked was, ‘Are we producing this consistently?’

To develop this new approach a new strategy was born.  The members of Scottish Pig Producers Ltd and Wholesome Pigs (Scotland) Ltd decided that to maintain the current growth and long-term profitability of their pig industry, a strategic meat quality and marketing investment was necessary.  They defined meat-eating quality as ‘naturally tender’ and this had to meet with consumers’ expectations for the Scottish brand.

A small eating quality trial conducted by producers highlighted consumers’ knowledge and ability to describe meat eating qualities.  The trial responses described meat that cooked well, as - nicely coloured, good aroma, did not curl or shrink too much, not too much water and was tender; whilst the meat that cooked poorly was described as - tough, chewy, dry and did not have the right taste.  It was clear that the consumers who said the meat cooked poorly would not buy it even if it were ‘Scottish’.

The incentive for producers is to produce pigmeat that is capable of moving out of the commodity market and to have a direct association with the Scottish brand.  So producers are backing Grampian Country Pork Halls’ requirement “to establish Scottish branding on pork and bacon products sooner rather than later”, and also to link with retailers, such as Tesco and Morrison, who are now promoting Scottish pork and bacon products.

What are the Collaborative Business Propositions and Targets Agreed by the Chain?

The industry already has a collaborative chain development blue print towards producing naturally tender pork.  The pig health strategy works by sampling for traces of sub clinical conditions post slaughter and collating and analyzing data for changes over time.  Producers can understand sub clinical effects on pig health by linking the trend analysis to adjustments made to environment, feeding or vaccines.  The strategy only works through the close collaboration of processors, vets, the producers’ organisations and producers themselves, and it is delivering remarkable results. 

Research commissioned by SEERAD and from around the world has provided a great deal of knowledge that indicates the effects of farm practice on meat quality – affecting marbling, colour, drip loss, tenderness and taints.   But it has proven difficult to develop a common all industry approach towards improving meat-eating qualities.  There is a range of reasons for this, but the most important is that the marketplace is geared toward lowest cost meat and thereafter relying on processing technology to improve the eating qualities.

Overall, meat quality must consider a wide variety of issues other than simply looking into single criterion such as larger cuts of meat.  Scottish Pig Producers reviewed various research papers from around the world to understand the key factors affecting pork meat-eating quality – and these are summarised as follows: -

 

 

The surprising information from the research was that there are important aspects of meat quality that producers can influence.  For example, to minimise drip loss, feeding vitamin C the day prior to slaughter can result in a 13% improvement in the water holding capacity of pork.  Selenium and vitamin E maintains muscle stability during an aging process.  Vitamin E itself delays the colour change from pink to brown by reducing lipid oxidation and thereby extending shelf life.  It is expected that close attention to these micronutrients will be important to the development of ‘extra mature’ pork currently being trialled by one of the major multiples. 

Meat colour is an essential deciding factor for consumers selecting their meat.  A reddish pink is thought to be superior due to the consumers’ consideration that it is fresh and moist.  Colour can be measured objectively by using a Minolota Meter, which measures the light reflectance.  However, currently there is no information available concerning the Scottish consumers’ preference for pork colour.

Examples of the Results of Collaboration

Over time, Scottish Pig Producers working with QMS and retailers will develop a more precise and defined measurement of consumer preference for the colour of Scottish pork.  The first work component will be to remove any unacceptable variation on colour, looking where there are incidences of ‘non -conformance’ through the supply chain that cause unacceptable variations – this may be due to feed, stress at loading, transport or pre-slaughter.

Scottish Pig Producers, working through the supply chain, are developing systems that reduce unacceptable variation in meat quality.  Meat is tested for the various factors affecting the quality, and where any that is other than acceptable are found, then the supply chain is investigated to find out why it happened. 

The next component is to understand the systems that provide continuity; in this case, the supply chain collaboration will be looking at what constitutes best practice.  For example, work is ongoing to determine the environmental factors that influence uninterrupted growth, such as drinking water flows, temperature and humidity. The question is - does this also produce more consistent colour and tenderness in the meat?

Long Term Thinking, Mutual Support, Innovation Value Add and New Product Development

Providing consumers with naturally tender Scottish pork and bacon products is engaging the entire supply chain in conversations, data collection, analysis and agreement to make the necessary improvements. 

The real value gain comes from consumers actively seeking Scottish pork and bacon products and being prepared to pay extra over competitor products, because they know that Scottish will most likely meet with their expectations for tenderness and taste, as well as the other benefits of local provenance.  

Conclusion

The supply chain collaboration is working towards developing a product that meets the demand of the consumers that grows market position.  For producers this means that they are directly associated with the Scottish brand as they are vital to its specification.  For processors they will have no product to deal with that is out-with their purchase specification, and with a consistent consumer demand for the Scottish brand, will have a closer affinity with retailers to meet consumers’ expectations with lower price sensitivity.  Clearly these are exciting times for the Scottish pig chain with producers taking a lead role.

 

 

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