Red Tractor has introduced new modules to its Red Tractor Pigs Scheme – Enhanced Welfare Outdoor Bred and Free Range.
The two modules will be accompanied by on-pack logos to help Red Tractor-assured pig producers and Red Tractor-licensed food businesses clearly communicate higher animal welfare inputs to shoppers.
They have been developed by industry and had been subject to extensive consultation over the past 18 months, Red Tractor added.
The modules had been benchmarked against existing market standards to ensure they reflect meaningful, recognised welfare standards while fitting within the practical realities of commercial pig production, the assurance scheme said.
“These new modules recognise greater freedom and comfort for the animals,” said Stewart Houston, chair of the Red Tractor pigs sector board. “The new logos will provide consumers with greater choice on the shelf, while the standards sitting behind them provide outdoor producers a way of reducing their on-farm audits while maintaining access to existing markets.”
The modules are designed to benefit the whole supply chain, including producers, food businesses and retailers.
For producers, the modules specify standards for outdoor systems within the Red Tractor pigs scheme so it is easier to show the welfare enhancements they deliver. For retailers, the new logos will help shoppers make choices more easily by providing consistent recognisable and trusted welfare messages across pork and poultry.
For food businesses, the modular approach offered a cost-effective option to demonstrate higher welfare on pack, menus, websites, paperwork and marketing materials, Red Tractor said.
It added that reducing audit duplication had been a central aim of this work and that the new modules and logos would streamline assurance activity for those who currently participate in multiple schemes. This was a central recommendation of the Farm Assurance Review.
“Producers have been clear that they want fair recognition for the additional time, investment and care that goes into higher-welfare systems,” said Houston. “These new modules and logos do exactly that – they give farmers a practical, trusted route to demonstrate better welfare while helping retailers and consumers to recognise those commitments easily.
“We developed the standards with wide industry input and by benchmarking against established schemes, so producers, licensees, customers and consumers can have confidence in what these logos represent.”
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