Waitrose is today launching a new marketing campaign to highlight the importance of high pig welfare standards.  The campaign begins with the airing of a new TV advert on ITV at 19.35 tonight, featuring chef Heston Blumenthal. 

The ad shows Heston on a farm that supplies Waitrose as he highlights that all Waitrose fresh pork products come from pigs that are outdoor bred, then reared in light and airy barns with fresh straw bedding. 

The campaign is designed to make customers aware that this commitment stretches across all of the supermarket’s ranges of 100 per cent British fresh pork, bacon and sausages, including essential Waitrose.  Unlike some other supermarkets, high welfare values aren’t simply applied to its most premium pork, sausages and bacon, and Waitrose wants to ensure this is understood by its customers.

To further highlight its commitment to pig welfare and informing customers where their food comes from, the supermarket will introduce QR codes to its own label products for the first time from 4th July.  The QR codes will appear on own label pork, sausages, bacon and gammon as well as on shelf-edge barkers.  Shoppers will be able to scan the codes with their smartphones to get an insight into the welfare conditions of pigs farms and information about the farmers responsible for rearing them - as well as recipes and cooking tips.

Heather Jenkins, Director, Buying and Agriculture Strategy, said: “At Waitrose we believe that animals should be able to express their natural behaviour and our new marketing campaign highlights the lengths we go to to ensure that our pork is produced in the right way – even for everyday staples.

“In fact,  25 per cent of all outdoor bred pigs in Britain end up on the shelves of our supermarkets, which is a huge proportion when you consider that our market share of the grocery industry is 4.6 per cent.  Our new campaign is designed to engage our customers through a variety of channels and inspire them with some interesting ideas for cooking one of the great British products.

Waitrose has long been a supporter of British pig farmers and all of its own brand pork, sausage and bacon is 100 per cent British and outdoor bred as a minimum standard.  The supermarket also has a unique approach to pricing which it has operated for more than ten years, which takes into account farmers’ costs, market prices and helps guarantee a fair return to all of its farmers.  This has continued to give its pig farmers sufficient confidence to remain in production and invest in their businesses.

The TV ad also features Heston’s slow-cooked pulled pork with cabbage slaw, with many of the key ingredients available on promotion at 1/3 off until 26th June, to encourage shoppers to cook up dishes using this versatile and delicious meat at home. The recipe will be available online at Waitrose.com and in the supermarket’s weekly newspaper, Waitrose weekend.