THE IRISH Farmers’ Association (IFA) has expressed concern about the huge variations in the amount of Irish-sourced pig meat stocked by different retailers which have been revealed in a survey carried out by Bord Bia.
Marks Spencer and Lidl stock no Irish pork, ham, bacon or rashers carrying the Bord Bia quality assurance logo, the survey found.
In contrast, the vast majority of pig meat sold in Centra, Superquinn and Supervalu used the Origin Ireland logo.
The findings were seized upon yesterday by the IFA, which said they showed that supermarkets needed to do more to promote Irish pig meat.
The IFA’s Michael Maguire said the survey also showed that Spar and Londis had a poor uptake and needed to improve their stocks of Irish product.
“The focus of the campaign is to raise awareness of the logo among consumers and highlight which products are Irish so consumers can make an informed choice when buying pork, ham and bacon,” he said.
The survey carried out by Bord Bia shows that Tesco’s use of Irish bacon dropped by 49 per cent, Mr Maguire said, but Irish pork stocks were up 30 per cent. Dunnes Stores increased its stock of Irish rashers by 38 per cent, but bacon showed only a marginal increase.
The amount of certified ham products on sale remains very low. From over 1,150 outlets surveyed, only 23 carried the logo.
Dunnes, Londis and Spar were the strongest supporters of Irish ham, but their figures stand at only 7 per cent, 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. Only five manufacturers used the logo on their cooked ham products.