Tom Kerridge to champion pulled pork in new campaign

Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge has been revealed as the ambassador of BPEX’s  2015 Pulled Pork campaign.

Tom Kerridge pub, The Hand and Flowers, became the first to be awarded two Michelin stars in 2011, will demonstrate the simplicity, ease and enjoyment of pulled pork recipes through a series of videos and online chats.

The videos will be available to view via the lovepork.co.uk website which, in addition, will also be hosting a range of inspirational new pulled pork recipes. Tom said: “I am really excited to be on board because I absolutely love pulled pork. Pork shoulder is one of the most under-utilised meat cuts, but one of the easiest to cook, most definitely full of flavour and great value for money. I hope this campaign will inspire people to give pulled pork a go at home.

“Pulled pork is one of the restaurant industry’s best kept secrets and consumers just aren’t aware of how easy it is to create a great-tasting, impressive dish.” Running throughout the month of May, the campaign aims to convince younger shoppers to try pulled pork at home by communicating how easy it is to cook and how tasty it is."

Kirsty Walker, BPEX, head of marketing, said: “Tom’s ‘no pretention’ style of cooking and presenting means he is the perfect chef to champion our pulled pork campaign. “Pulled pork is a dish that is relevant all year round, as a family meal or for a bigger get together. Over the past decade sales of fresh pork has been flat or in decline and this problem is going to worsen if we don’t reach out to younger consumers and rejuvenate the image of pork. This is an issue that affects the whole pig industry and I’m delighted Tom is on board to help kick start this overall rejuvenation effort with our pulled pork campaign.

“Tom is a massive supporter of pork, consistently offering pork dishes on his pub menus as well as demonstrating its versatility in his TV programmes and appearances. We’re thrilled he has agreed to help us try and get pulled pork on to every kitchen and dining room table in the land.”

Aside from increasing the popularity of pork with younger consumers, eating more pulled pork could have the added benefit of helping to improve the sustainability and profitability of pig farming. British pig farmers currently rear around 10 million pigs each year with Brits eating around 26 million loins and 19 million legs. However, current figures show consumers eat the shoulder joints from six million pigs. By promoting shoulder as ‘pulled pork’ it could mean Britons eat more of the shoulders produced in this country making pig farming more sustainable in the long term.