Bpex has enlisted the help of celebrity pig farmer Jimmy Doherty to front a series of ‘webisodes’ to push Red Tractor pork ahead of anticipated price rises next year.

Doherty - a regular presenter of Channel 4 food documentaries - will front three short films available to view on Channel 4’s 4OD internet portal. Broadcast in January and February, they will show Doherty on location on pig farms (including his own in Suffolk). He will also be filmed cooking and eating different cuts of pork including sausages.

Doherty - a Red Tractor pig farmer himself - was chosen because of his historic support for the pig industry, said Bpex head of marketing Karen Hughes.

The films would “reinforce with consumers the value of the Red Tractor scheme in pork and make clear the extent to which Red Tractor is responsible for high standards of production,” she said.

Thirty-second versions of the films will be shown in commercial breaks around food and factual programmes on 4OD and viewers will be able to click through to see full three-minute versions.

Eating British pork was vital if people wanted to protect UK pig farming, said Doherty. “Choosing Red Tractor is a fantastic way of ensuring you are doing just that.”

The films will boost the Red Tractor scheme in the wake of Sainsbury’s announcement last month that it will remove the logo from its own-label meat, poultry, dairy and fresh produce to cut down on the amount of on-pack information.

The timing of the films will coincide with the introduction of the EU-wide sow stall ban on 1 January. Bpex predicts that the ban, together with rising feed costs, will force farmers out of the sector, causing shortages of pork, and rising prices.

The films will not, however, directly refer to the ban or feed costs.

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