2005 press releases

The High Court has today ruled that an application to restrict production of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies cannot be quashed, and will continue its approval process through the European Commission.

Defra’s application, which was initiated by the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, would restrict production of the pies to an area of 1,800 square miles of the East Midlands which includes Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton. Northern Foods has argued that this is an artificial zone. The application also specifies that genuine Melton Mowbray pork pies must be grey in colour and made from uncured pork, despite the fact that the Association’s dominant member and leading commercial manufacturer, Samworth Brothers, produces both cured and uncured pies under the Melton Mowbray name. Samworth Brothers manufactures Melton Mowbray pork pies in Leicester.

Northern Foods has been making Melton Mowbray pork pies to traditional recipes for over a hundred years from its sites in Trowbridge, Wiltshire; Market Drayton in Shropshire; and originally in Birmingham. If the application is approved by the European Commission, it will no longer be able to do so.

Northern Foods will be applying to the High Court for permission to appeal today’s decision in the Court of Appeal.

Carol Williams, Company Secretary of Northern Foods, commented:

“This is a case of EU rules being exploited to allow the biggest player in this market to get bigger, at the expense of the consumer. We think it’s anti-competitive, and it’s a sad day for common sense.

“We’ve been making great Melton Mowbray pork pies for over a hundred years. Our pies are very high quality and made to traditional recipes, and our customers think that is more important than where they are made.

“We have fought this challenge all the way on some very clear principles and we will have no compunction about doing the same again.”

  Notes:

Melton Mowbray Pork Pies

Melton Mowbray Pork Pies are made by both large scale food manufacturers and small artisan producers up and down the country.  The market is worth £51.7m per annum (TNS 2005) and is the fastest growing section of the pork pie market.  The market leader is Samworth Brothers, with a 62% market share (TNS/Northern Foods).  Northern Foods has a 24% market share (TNS/Northern Foods) and has been making Melton Mowbray pork pies outside the proposed area for over a hundred years, notably in Market Drayton, Shropshire and Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and originally in Birmingham.  Northern Foods believes that over the years Melton Mowbray has come to mean a type of pie, made to a certain quality and a broad recipe, rather than indicating the place where it was made.

The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association

The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association was formed in 1998.  It is dominated by a single large UK food producer – Samworth Brothers, the market leader, which manufactures over 99% of the pies produced by Association members.

The Protected Geographical Indication Application

In 1999 the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association lodged an application with Defra for Protected Geographical Indication status for the term “Melton Mowbray Pork Pie” for an area of 1,800 square miles.  This area extends far beyond the Borough of Melton to encompass the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton, thus including Samworth Brothers’ factory in Leicester.

The application was forwarded by Defra to the European Commission for consideration, but the application was suspended earlier this year while Northern Foods sought a Judicial Review in the High Court.  The application will now continue its path to the European Commission.  If granted, it would be the first recipe-based product to receive such status in the UK.  Northern Foods is in discussions with Defra about the length of any transition period, and it is hoped that a five period would be granted, in line with other recent EU cases.