Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 59
1 company as regards animal production. I can give a lead to
2 other people in the agriculture industry.
3
4 Q. Yes, but other people who are supplying you, are you giving
5 the lead to your suppliers?
6 A. Oh yes, this is in our buying specifications that pigs
7 should be kept in certain ways.
8
9 Q. You say it is in your buying specifications, but you also
10 do buy indoor reared pigs?
11 A. Yes.
12
13 Q. So do you have kind of two separate channels as it were?
14 A. Yes.
15
16 Q. And the pigs that are kept outside, is that something you
17 get a higher price for?
18 A. The cost of production is approximately 15 to 20 per
19 cent more, so I must make more of them otherwise we would
20 go bust.
21
22 Q. Is that mainly kind of premium stuff for selling as free
23 range in supermarkets and things like that?
24 A. Yes. If you go and have a look in Tesco's and you see
25 the freedom pork in there, you will see there is a higher
26 price. If you go to Safeways and look at the Heritage pork,
27 you will see that is at a higher price. Both of those
28 products are ours.
29
30 Q. That is where most of your Freedom, whatever it is called,
31 Freedom Foods, pork would go is it?
32 A. That is where the retail Freedom Food pork goes, yes.
33
34 Q. What about the rest then?
35 A. The rest goes to various manufacturers.
36
37 Q. So is the rest just mixed in generally with the indoor
38 stuff?
39 A. No. When we have Freedom Food pork or Heritage pork
40 come into the factory, we have to keep it totally separate
41 so it is fully traceable all the way through our system, so
42 that we can then produce in the correct packs for those
43 retailers but, likewise, under the Food Act, we actually
44 have do that to every producer who sends us pigs. Every
45 pig is identified so we have to be able to give all
46 traceability to that product, we have to show all due
47 diligence under the Food Act. Therefore, one can then
48 separate that meat which we do once the retail packing that
49 goes direct to the supermarket for other uses in
50 manufacturing and that can go locally, for example to McKey
51 Foods, Northern Foods, Unilever, all sorts of people, and
52 there are certain of those companies that require that type
53 of meat to be kept separate so they can also use products
54 to be sold on the shelf also.
55
56 Q. What label does ----
57 A. It is labelled in the retail shops as "Tesco's free
58 range RSPCA Freedom Food".
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you had got off Tesco's, had you not.
