black farmer antibiotic free pork range

The Black Farmer is making a play for the fresh pork market with a new range of British cuts from RSPCA Assured pigs raised without antibiotics.

The premium meat brand’s lineup of six products comprises a pork belly joint, pork belly slices, pork fillet medallions, pork loin chops and steaks, and a pork shoulder joint. They all went on sale in Ocado this week (rsp £8.49/kg to £14.99/kg).

The new range was sourced from a “low-density” pig farm on the east coast of Scotland, using a “pioneering farming method” said The Black Farmer founder Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, and was launched in response to increased demand for meat raised without antibiotics.

Sows were free to roam outside and were fed on only vegetarian feed, he added, with the system guaranteeing piglets were born outdoors and reared without the use of antibiotics from birth.

“Such a high level of welfare means there is a consistent supply of healthy, natural pigmeat from happy pigs,” Emmanuel-Jones said. “Too much antibiotics is not good for us, so we want to challenge the conventions of farming.”

He told The Grocer he hoped to extend the antibiotic-free commitment across the brand’s entire supply chain, including bacon and sausage production, “when we can get the supply”.

It follows the introduction of bacon raised without antibiotics by high welfare brand Spoilt Pig in June. Defra reported that livestock antibiotic sales in the UK fell to their lowest levels since records began in October.