"This makes a mockery of the claims by major retailers that ordinary British people are not in a position to pay more for their pigmeat," said Matthew Curtis, ACMC’s managing director. "It is extremely cheap, even when compared with other red meats in this country. For example, retailers price fillet of beef at about 335.00 per kg compared with just 37.00 for fillet of pork."

Retailers, he says, are making a fortune out of the pig industry while British pig farmers are losing up to 315 – 20 p per kg – on every pig they produce.

"The price paid for pigs by processors and retailers in a supposedly rich ‘First World’ country hasn’t reflected the increase in feed prices. Pig farmers can’t sustain these losses. If prices don’t increase to a realistic level, they will simply be driven out of business and retailers will have killed the goose that’s laying their golden eggs," he said.

"If only the major retailers would engage enthusiastically with the whole supply chain and share risk, we could all make a living and continue to provide pork and pigmeat products at an attractive price," commented BPEX chairman Stewart Houston. "Even the Chinese, who have half the world’s pigs, are prepared to pay more than the British. Their pig farmers are currently receiving around 32.55 per kg," he added.