Pig farmers warn of industry collapse amid frozen pork import surge

Pig farmers face mounting losses as supermarkets increasingly stock imported frozen pork, leaving local producers struggling to access the market despite government efforts to boost domestic production, Barbados TODAY has learned.

The Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS)  further bemoans what it says are hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses being suffered by these farmers.

The alarm comes as imports from countries such as Suriname are filling supermarket freezers, even as Barbados maintains one of the highest tariffs on pork in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

A recent analysis of pork trade by the CARICOM Secretariat noted that Barbados had an applied pork tariff of 184 per cent. Despite this, frozen cuts continue to dominate regional imports.

Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) further show Suriname as a current supplier of frozen whole and half swine carcasses to the country.

At the same time, a new arrangement between Massy Stores and distributor Sundale has restricted farmers’ ability to sell their pork directly to retailers, creating what BAS has described as a market access crisis.

“This meeting has been called… to address the concerns being expressed by farmers in relation to the supply of pork and the inability at times to be able to market that pork,” BAS Chief Executive Officer James Paul told journalists on Wednesday in a press conference at the Grotto, Beckles Road, St Michael.

“We’ve been told that some farmers in recent weeks have had real difficulty getting sales as they would expect. Since the arrangement that Massy made with Sundale, it appears that some farmers who were accustomed to supplying Massy now have an inability to do so.”

Calling it a vexing situation, BAS President Henderson Williams warned that it risks undercutting not just farmers but the entire food security framework Barbados has worked to strengthen.

“If the largest supermarket chain has said to farmers who would otherwise deliver pork to their back door, ‘we are no longer buying from you directly’, then that third party now controls how persons get into the market,” Williams said during the press briefing.

“What has happened is that they are reducing what they would’ve taken from our farmers and supplementing that with imports. That puts our producers at a serious disadvantage. Farmers have already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of this.”

He explained that the longer pigs remain unsold, the more expensive they become to maintain, pushing farmers further into financial difficulty.

“Every single day you have a pig held at market, it’s a cost. You have to keep feeding them, and your profits dwindle,” Williams said.

Veteran pig farmer Gay Reed, who has been in the business for over 40 years, said the industry can meet national demand if farmers work together and adopt modern techniques.

“My view is that we should unite. Unification is the main thing the farmers should do,” Reed said.

“We have the facilities, we have the technical staff, and plenty of farmers who can be trained.”

He added that the industry is under pressure from multiple fronts—including the high cost of feed, water, medication, labour and transport—while cheap frozen imports, sometimes of unknown age and origin, continue to enter the island.

“If you cannot get your pigs sold, it means you cannot make a profit at all. That’s very detrimental to the farmer,” Reed stressed.

“We cannot let this industry fail. Once we come together, I think we can get the industry viable again. If we don’t unite, it’s dead.”

BAS is therefore preparing to roll out a new buy-local initiative branded Bajan Pork to the Bone, urging Barbadians to support homegrown pork.

“We’re going to be working with media houses, chefs, and social media platforms to promote local pork recipes and awareness,” the society shared, adding that cold storage facilities at the Grotto have been upgraded to facilitate the selling of fresh pork in the area once again.

In addition, officials noted that they are engaging Hipac, the island’s largest processor of fresh pork, to help move surplus meat, and plan to reach out to Sundale directly.

They further stressed that BAS is not trying to “demonise anyone in the business community” but is encouraging the necessary corporate social responsibility needed to support its farmers.

According to a CARICOM  trade brief, the regional pork trade is small but dynamic, with imports largely consisting of frozen cuts.

While some of these imports are used for sausage production—which may qualify for duty-free entry under manufacturing exemptions—critics argue that frozen meat is now flooding the consumer market traditionally supplied by fresh, local pork.

The same report indicated that CARICOM producers, including Barbados, have not yet developed strong export markets due to disease-free certification requirements.

Further urging consumers to support the domestic industry, the CEO asked, “Who do you prefer to support? A Barbadian farmer who sells fresh pork and needs the income to support his family? Or a Surinamese farmer—where there is no telling how long the meat has been in the freezer before it reaches your table?” 

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb