A recent week-long campaign by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) and Menter Moch Cymru to promote the finest pork from Wales achieved some sizzling results and whetted the appetite of foodies across Wales.
Timed around the celebration of Santes Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers, press and influencers were invited to experience first-hand the farming processes and techniques that make pork from Wales such a sustainable and tasty product. As well as this a pop-up tasting experience was hosted in a Cardiff restaurant with a carefully curated menu to feature pork in every dish, including the dessert. An online competition was run across a number of online channels and winners were invited to attend the three-course dinner.
The response to the campaign was impressive with year on year growth of 67% followers to the social media channels and 240% more engagement with its activity, compared to the first time the Porc from Wales Week campaign was run in 2019.
For the first time the campaign was promoted using Instagram and gained traction with a strong demographic of young highly engaged followers. The addition of this channel resulted in key messages being shared to new audiences along with beautiful images of the dishes. Guests commented on how striking the colour and quality of the meat was, noting that pork in Wales is generally reared in small herds producing happy animals with bigger flavour.
Kirstie Jones, Market Development Officer at HCC said of the results, “It’s encouraging to see captivated audiences on social media sharing the important message around the sustainability and quality taste of pork produced here in Wales. Many of the guests at the Santes Dwynwen dinner were keenly posting photos of their delicious meals across their influential networks and we were able to tap into a new and important demographic thanks to this.”
Melanie Cargill of Menter Moch Cymru, a Welsh Government-funded initiative who were campaign partners, said of the event, “Farmers here in Wales are producing some of the tastiest and highest quality pork available to consumers with the least amount of food miles when purchased locally. Pork from Wales is packed with flavour and we were delighted to present it as a three-course meal at the pop-up tasting experience as part of Porc from Wales week. It shows just how versatile the meat can be when thought about innovatively.”
In addition to the social media coverage, Porc from Wales Week was also featured on both ITV Wales and S4C. Filming was carried out at Puff Pigs farm, located near Mountain Ash in the Cynon Valley, the winners of last year’s “Put your Best Sausage Forward” competition co-judged by Scott Quinnell at the Royal Welsh Show 2019.
Pork producers this year received a marketing toolkit including recipe cards, bunting and posters to help them support the campaign. Many outlets and farmers ran their own offers and competitions to complement the Porc from Wales Week campaign.
Porc from Wales Week highlighted to consumers just one way through which they can support local businesses whilst contributing to a more sustainable farming environment.
The Menter Moch Cymru project is funded by the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 -2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.