UK firm to stop using British pork due to Brexit

[LadyWithLapdog]

www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/24/uk-firm-to-stop-using-british-pork-after-post-brexit-border-problems-helen-browning

It’s not the sunny uplands people were promised.

Maybe they should be making their sausages in the UK then!! Why on earth are they sending all their meat to Germany to be made into sausages and then transporting the back here to sell in our supermarkets? If I see these sausages on any shelf near me I will be giving them a big swerve.
My relatives are pig farmers and their product is superb, completely organic, feed completely on feed stuff grown on the farm and sold directly to the public in their own farm shop and chain of hog roast shops. So none of this air miles rubbish in their product.

So none of this air miles rubbish in their product.

You do realise the EU is not that far away?

I'd never heard of them or their sausages until this article. I must admit the first thing that struck me was that their business plan does seem a bit odd. Our butcher makes his sausages from local meat. Furthest it travels is from his shop to our fridge. Frankly, I doubt if there's any other meat business in he UK that does this.

The article says

'For two decades, Helen Browning’s Organics sausages – which account for about a quarter of its sales – have been manufactured in Germany because of, according to the company, a lack of a suitable factory in the UK'

Suitable could mean anything

Size of factory
Price point
Experience in the organic sector
Good for allergy stuff
Other ingredients being more available there

The Germans are notoriously keen on and good at making sausages.

Seems a bit off to what assume she's not speaking the truth/ making some kind of point when she's been selling these in the UK for 20 years.

German sausages are a very different product to British/Irish sausages.

She's been selling them here for 20 years so they can't be that bad

£3.99 for 250g of weird looking orange sausages?

They sell 300k packs a year and it's a quarter of their sales.

It's a British company that has successfully traded here for years.

The response 'they look crap' is not really very helpful!

Do you not care that this successful UK business has felt the best option is to source pork elsewhere to reduce red tape?

I don't get it.

You seem to essentially be saying well they can fuck off then and their produce looks shit...!!

Never heard of them , buy mine from the butchers and tbf would be put off meat that is sent somewhere and then back again
Happy to buy danish bacon as comes from denmark , don't want to buy meat thats been on 2 road trips though

@NiceGerbil well they could find a uk factory to make them I am sure there are plenty, but maybe they have a contract with germany as already using them , who knows
Like I say buy mine at the butchers as I know they are fresh

For a start £16 a kg is 1.5 to 2x the price of my local butchers, and even more than Aldi etc who manage to use British meat with no problem, so they can fuck off for that.
They could consider moving the actual sausage making process to the UK if that is where their primary market it is, and consider selling EU pork in the Europe. The meat will travel less and will be fresher.

Happy to buy danish bacon as comes from denmark ,

🤣🤣🤣

I would actually be bit annoyed if I bought these as thought I was supporting britsih farmers and manufacturing to find out all along the meats being going to europe then being sent back, also once they change labels to state not british meat they may loose some customers as thats why some may buy
I know I buy certain things because it may support something

'they could find a uk factory to make them I am sure there are plenty'

You think this successful company with 20 years trading in the UK does not know as well as you what sausage making factories exist in the UK that meet their requirements and price points.

Seriously?

@NiceGerbil I meant as in it does the one trip and isn't going back and forth , not ken on that for meat
So would be annoyed if I was buying those assuming they were british to find out the whole journey

It was supporting British farmers!

That's the whole bloody point of the article.

The response to an article that says -
Beef exports decreased by 92% in January, down from £40m in the same month last year to £3m, while pork exports fell by 87% and lamb and mutton by 45%. All of these meat products feature in the UK’s top 10 exports to the EU. is they look weird, I just buy sausages at my butchers, what a bad business plan

Do you really not find this concerning?

What does their labelling say?

You are saying you think they were misleading customers.. another assumption?

By the way when this all started there was a plan to get meat from USA and they were going to insist the origin was obscured. Don't know if that's still on the table.

@NiceGerbil well im sure they could of they really wanted to yes , they have had 5 years to prepare after all
Like I said though they may have a contract with german factory as they have been using them, maybe a uk factory didn't want to make them really I don't care as long as they now change their labelling to show where meat is from

I will look at exports again in a few months when companies have got used to requirements and also not in a pandemic as this will have some impact

The thing about the fish industry has pissed me off.

Massively successful sector.

Most exported to Europe as they enjoy the produce.

All fucked.

Our exports across the board are naturally down. We are no longer a no barriers trading partner. Obviously.

Response? Those sausages look shit. I'm happy to buy Danish bacon

@NiceGerbil I don't know what their labelling says as I wouldn't buy a sausage like that, but the front packaging would make me assume uk made as well

@NiceGerbil we can have an opinion as well just because we don't all want to agree with you , its early days anyone who thought it would be smooth straight away was silly
Plus its done now and Im more sick of people going on and on about it, for now I have switched to a butcher for a lot if my meat so I can actually support british farmers and shopping local for veg , eggs and other bits
I can't change brexit I can only do my bit by buying local as much as posiblr

What does their labelling say?

Whatever it says I'm sure it will be in line with existing law. Which by the way is iffy and government won't change it.

They make organic sausages and are successful.

So far we've had

German sausages are different and not like English sausages (but they have been selling well for years)

They're weird orange and expensive

Their labelling is misleading (is it? And more misleading than other brands?)

There must be a UK factory that would be just as good (for some reason an actual successful sausage company wouldn't have looked into that. Because..? They don't like the UK even though it's their target market and they used British pork).

Are the posters say saying this actually serious?

Loads of places have no butchers locally. And they're often very expensive.

So. In alright Jack?