The Danish Story 793 A.D.

1847 2012 The origins of bacon

• The practice of salting pork and other meats dates from the early periods of civilisation and salted pork was enjoyed by the Greeks and Romans • The Saxons kept large herds of pigs in England’s extensive woodlands • References to ‘bacon’ in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ (14th Century) and the works of William Shakespeare (16th Century) • ‘The Dunmow Flitch’…..’Bringing home the bacon’……’Pig in a poke’ • Bacon and eggs for breakfast gained popularity during the 19th Century • ‘Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper’ (Old Proverb)

The beginnings of ‘commercial’ bacon production

• Late 1700’s The traditional practice of salting of pork began to develop from a ‘cottage industry’ to commercial bacon production 1770 C+T Harris bacon factory opens in Calne, Wiltshire

• 1800 -1840

Southern Ireland became the main source of bacon imported to Britain

1820 Henry Denny bacon factory opens in Waterford The Danish Bacon Story Period 1800 - 1850

• Mid 1800’s Cheap imports of grain from North America caused Danish farmers to diversify from cereals to pig and dairy production

• 1847 Andreas Joachim Moller employs Thomas Bune, an English butcher from Cork, to supervise bacon production, using ‘superior’ pigs from Britain… the merchant ship ‘SS Rattler’ set sail from port of Hjertting in Jutland on 14th October, with a cargo including ‘6 sides of green salted bacon’

The Danish Bacon Story Period 1850 - 1900

• 1850 - 1900 Rapid growth in meat consumption in England as the industrial revolution and exodus to towns gathers pace

• 1850 - 1870 Growth in exports of live pigs from to Northern as became a significant source of bacon produced for the British market

• 1874 Port of Esbjerg opens, with regular sailings from Denmark to England The Danish Bacon Story Period 1850 - 1900 • 1887 City of Hamburg joined the ‘German Customs Union’, and the border closed to import of pigs from Denmark…the first Danish pigmeat co- operative factory founded in Horsens in Jutland. Others soon followed

• 1890’s Selective breeding and testing of Danish Landrace begins

• 1897 Pig meat co-operatives form a joint association, the Federation of Danish Co-operative Bacon Factories, today part of the the Danish Agriculture & Food Council The Danish Bacon Story Period 1900 - 1930

• Early 1900’s Denmark replaces USA as main supplier of bacon to British market

• 1902 Danish Bacon Agency/Danish Bacon Co opens for business near London Bridge (Port of London)

• 1914 - 1918 First World War. Loss of imported cereals and feedstuffs leads to decline in Danish pig production and bacon sales to Britain The Danish Bacon Story Period 1900 - 1930

• 1920’s Manual injection of brine into bacon sides and tank immersion replaces dry salting process.

…Danish Bacon regains leading position on British bacon market…early advertising campaigns begin The Danish Bacon Story Period 1930 - 1950

1932 Danish bacon imports reach 390,000 tonnes

Other UK bacon importers:

• 64,000 tonnes • Holland 50,000 tonnes • USA 27,000 tonnes • Sweden 22,000 tonnes • 16,000 tonnes • Eire 11,000 tonnes

The Danish Bacon Story Period 1930 - 1950

• Mid-1930’s World economic slump, mass unemployment, trade restrictions and import quotas introduced

• 1939 - 1945 Second World War. Britain’s bacon supply from Denmark and other countries replaced by Canada and USA…bacon rationing introduced (fluctuating between 2oz. per fortnight to 5oz. per week)

• 1946 Danish Bacon exports resume under bulk purchasing arrangements under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture The Danish Bacon Story Period 1950 - 1960

• 1950 ESS-FOOD established to co-ordinate exports of bacon and pigmeat from 62 co-operative factories

• 1954 Danish Meat Research Institute established in Roskilde

…bacon rationing in Britain ends The Danish Bacon Story Period 1950 -1960

• 1955 Danish Agricultural Producers Information Services (DAPIS) set up in London to co-ordinate advertising of Danish bacon and dairy products…Danish Bacon one of the first food products to be advertised on television

• 1957 EEC founded as 6 inaugural members signed Treaty of Rome (Germany, France, Italy, Benelux)

• 1958 Stripbranding of Danish sides begins…”Good Bacon has Danish written all over it” The Danish Bacon Story Period 1960 - 1980

• 1960’s As bacon sales boom at breakfast, consumption rises to 12kg per head….Britain and Denmark join EFTA trading bloc

• 1960 Danish bacon slicing begins at Selby in Yorkshire and then Thetford in Norfolk

• 1961 Danepak brand launched The Danish Bacon Story Period 1960 - 1980

• 1967 ESS-FOOD introduce refrigerated container deliveries on racks……Danish Bacon Control established at Esbjerg The Danish Bacon Story Period 1960 - 1980

• 1972 Danish ‘sizzle’ arrives in British market…Britain and Denmark join EEC

• 1975 Automatic multi-needle brine injection of bacon sides (120 injections) replaces manual procedures The Danish Bacon Story Period 1980 - 1990 • 1980’s Danish pig production increases and export markets diversify, especially Japan

Dutch bacon backs ‘arrive’ on the British market and individually cured tailor-made cuts (cure-in-bag) begin to replace traditional bacon sides

Pure Danish Landrace breeding replaced by cross breeding based on four breeds - Landrace, Yorkshire, Duroc, Hampshire

Major retailers rapidly increase share of meat sales at expense of independent butchers

The Danish Bacon Story Period 1980 - 1990 • 1984 Just 12 co-operative companies remain, following a continuous process of mergers during 1960’s and 1970’s.

ESS-FOOD ceases role as centralised exporter of Danish Bacon and new commercial structure evolves

• 1985 Danish Bacon and Meat Council established to take over functions of generic marketing and industry representation

…’Good bacon has Danish written all over it ’ revived

The Danish Bacon Story Period 1990 - 2000 • 1990 - 1995 Food Safety Act and. ‘due diligence’ comes into effect following series of ‘food scares’ Danish Quality Guarantee launched. National Salmonella Control Programme launched

• 1997 Danish ‘Contract for Production of UK Pigs’ launched

• 1998 National Pig Association founded

• 1999 UK bans confinement of sows during pregnancy

The Danish Bacon Story Period 2000 - 2005

• 2000 Bacon consumption now stable at 8kg per head – mainly at weekend breakfasts and in

• 2002 Danish pig production now dominated by two major co-operative groups

• 2003 Traditional bacon side production ceases

The Danish Bacon Story Period 2005 to date….

• 3,600 larger pig farming enterprises now produce c.30 million pigs

• Danish Crown develop Tulip as the largest UK pig meat processing business following the acquisition of Hygrade Foods, Flagship Foods Group, George Adams and Parkham Food Group, together with a significant stake in the British pig production

• Tican expands its UK processing and wholesaling interests via Direct Table Foods, Pro-Pak Foods and Tican Chilled

• These companies are now responsible for the marketing of ‘Danish’ in the UK Danish Bacon and the UK Market

• Danish Bacon sold in the British market since 1847.

• Denmark currently exports around 230,000 tonnes of pig meat to Britain per annum – representing c.20% of UK pig meat market

• ‘Danish’ still means ‘good bacon’ to many UK consumers.

• ‘Danish’ remains the best known bacon quality marque in Britain

22