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www.porknews.com.au Australian Pork Newspaper, December 2024 %u2013 Page 9MANY Australians love nothing more than sitting down to a plate of bacon and eggs for brekky.But supermarket shoppers are now likely to pay more for bacon rashers than a pork roast.Recently, middle bacon rashers were priced at $19/kg at Woolworths and $8/kg for a whole pork roast.Australian Pork Limited chief executive officer Margo Andrae confirmed that bacon was now costing $19-21/kg, adding that what consumers were actually seeing was the price of imported bacon increasing.Nearly 70 percent of ham and bacon on Australian supermarket shelves is made from imported ingredients.As Australians have a ravenous appetite for ham and bacon, more than 164,652 tonnes of pork were imported in the past financial year.With other top import sources being the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada, about half of Australia%u2019s imported pork is from the US.All fresh pork in Australia is produced here, thanks to biosecurity regulations.Victorian Farmers Federation pig group president and producer David Wright said most homegrown pork goes into the fresh market, such as chops and roasts.%u201cAny product you buy with a bone %u2013 so ham on the bone %u2013 is Aussie grown,%u201d Mr Wright said.Global AgriTrends analyst Simon Quilty said Mexico was part of the reason bacon was costing Australian supermarket shoppers more.%u201cRight now, America is driving the bus when it comes to pork pricing around the world,%u201d Mr Quilty said.Adding that America produces the cheapest pork in the world currently, and Mexico is one of its biggest buyers.However, according to Mr Quilty, pork production was expected to increase more in the coming months than it had so far this year.%u201cThere%u2019s been a jump in prices of about 13 percent in the past six weeks, driven by Mexico,%u201d he said.Ms Andrae said that there had also been a rise in demand for Australian pork and bacon, as well as an increase in price.%u201cThat really does relate to the cost of doing business %u2013 labour, biosecurity and animal care,%u201d she said.%u201cPeople can buy homegrown bacon for as little as $24-26 a kilo.%u201dAdding that the decreasing gap between the price of local and imported bacon could benefit Australian growers, as traditionally the difference has been much greater.%u201cPeople probably have a better choice, or an easier choice to make, on whether they support the Australian versus the imported,%u201d Ms Andrae said.Meanwhile, Mr Wright has said local bacon was not always easy to locate on supermarket shelves.%u201cIt%u2019s really hard for our Aussie products to get visibility at the shelf and get into Aussie households,%u201d he said.Adding that the industry was working with the government to make labelling clearer, as well as lobbying to improve placement and marketplace share of Australian-made bacon.When looking to buy local, Ms Andrae said shoppers should look for a bar chart on the product label.%u201cWe often used to believe that the triangle with the kangaroo in it meant we were buying Australian product,%u201d she said.%u201cWhat we actually need to be doing is looking at the small bar chart underneath, and anything above about 60-70 percent, you can be guaranteed you%u2019re buying an Australian product.%u201dYet, as consumers are currently looking to save at the checkout, paying slightly more to support Australian producers may be a little tough to swallow. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113. ABN 53 071 187 285. %u00aeIngelvac CircoFLEX is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH. All rights reserved. AU-POR-0029-2021Your trusted partnerMore than 10 years of experience with more data than any comparable vaccineWhen you demand performance, turn to the product you trustLocal bacon for brekky supports Aussie producers. Photo: Vincent RivaudCost of imported bacon could help Australian producersCountry of origin labelling in Australia includes a bar chart that shows the percentage of local ingredients.