Half a dozen people paid a visit to Manila and the party included traders and abattoir representatives.

Export Marketing Manager Jonathan Eckley said: “There is already some pig meat being exported but it is a growing economy and there is scope to expand that trade.

“We have been working with UKTI locally and the mission included a visit to a cold store, a cutting plant, a wet market and retailers.

“This was followed by a meet the buyer session, attended by 20 Filipino companies which included some the of the country’s leading meat importers. The business to business meetings were extremely successful.

“The aim of these meetings was to build relationships between traders and for those from the UK to meet significant players in the Philippines market.

“We had a great many inquiries so we are hopeful that will result in enhancing the trade between the UK and the Philippines. The Philippines has a population of 100 million and import about 100,000 tonnes of pig meat a year.”