First north meeting for young NPA members

The first meeting for young National Pig Association (NPA) members in the North-East was well attended at the Ramada Hotel on the outskirts of York. The recent event gave young producers and allied industry workers the chance to get together and share their views and ideas. They also had the opportunity to learn about the main drivers for the consumer when buying pork, as Rick Sanderson from PIC gave an informative talk about the pork supply chain. Interestingly, the main reason for buying pork was the menu - ie what am I going to cook? Selection of pork was then determined by appearance, not price and 64% of consumers prefer British pork. Rick also spoke about the interaction between the physical environment and genetics in influencing meat quality and highlighted the fact that producers can control about 75 - 80% of this.... [read full story]