Many people don’t realise that the most consumed meat in the world isn’t beef or chicken, but is in fact pork. In Australia alone, each person consumes, on average, 25 kilograms of pork per year, and the industry is worth more than $1 billion at the farm gate and around three times that at a wholesale level. APL is the national industry representative body for Australian pig producers, performing marketing activities to improve the demand for Australian pork, research and development to make the industry more competitive, and industry representation ensuring government and regulators have all the necessary information for successful policy outcomes.
CEO Andrew Spencer explains that the aim of the corporation, which is funded by levies from pig farmers and the government, is to do the best by the pork industry at all times. “We are a unique farm services company. The pork industry is just one of many sectors of agriculture, which includes grain, beef, lamb, wool, and horticulture. All of the various sectors of agriculture have research and development corporations; those corporations are mandated to perform on behalf of their part of the industry to improve productivity, efficiency, and innovation.”
”Australian Pork Limited is not only the research and development corporation for the pork industry. We have more responsibilities than that: we’re also the marketing arm on behalf of the pig farmers of Australia. Campaigns like ‘Get some pork on your fork’ that’s all ours. We’re also the lobby group, the peak industry body for the pig farmers, so we talk to government about policy, regulations, particular areas like animal welfare, environmental management, trade, labour, food-safety policy. They’re our three key roles: marketing, research and development, and industry advocacy.”
