Packington Free Range Win Good Pig Award in Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards 2012

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND, October 03, 2012 (Press-News.org) Staffordshire-based pork and poultry farmers, Packington Free Range, have won The Good Pig Award in the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards 2012. Selected by the Compassion in World Farming Charity committee, Packington Free Range was honored with the award title in recognition of their commitment to farm animal welfare.

Packington Free Range (http://www.packingtonfreerange.co.uk) attended the awards evening which took place on Thursday 27th September and was hosted by cook, food writer and broadcaster Valentine Warner at the Honourable Artillery Company in London. The Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards (http://www.compassioninfoodbusiness.com/awards/), now in their sixth year, recognise and award food companies that are committed to implementing substantial policy changes that result in positive impacts for farm animals. There were over 50 awards presented across five different categories: Compassion's existing Good Egg Award, Good Chicken Award and Good Dairy Award; their newly launched Good Pig Award, and, new for this year, the Leadership and Innovation in Retail 2012.

Joint Managing Director, Alec Mercer said "We're delighted to have won the Good Pig Award. At Packington Free Range, animal welfare is truly at the heart of everything we do, so to be recognised for this really reinforces our farming ethos. We strongly believe in ethical and sustainable farming which has only our free-range pigs' and chickens' best interests at heart. Having already won the Leadership Award in Pig Welfare and the Good Chicken Award, the Good Pig Award is yet another achievement that we can be proud of and shows our customers how passionate we are about providing our animals with the best lifestyle possible."

In particular, The Good Pig Award, launched earlier this year, celebrates organisations that use or are committed to using higher welfare pig systems for sows and meat pigs; addressing the confinement and the need for enrichment in breeding sows; mutilations; and the need for environmental enrichment in meat pigs.

Mercer continued "Winning a newly launched award such as this is really fantastic news. We believe in the traditional free-range farming methods and we pride ourselves on rearing happy and healthy pigs (http://www.packingtonfreerange.co.uk/healthy-pigs-poultry/free-range-pork/) which spend their whole lives outdoors, ensuring they are able to live stress-free in environmentally sound conditions."

Steve McIvor, Director of Food Business, Compassion in World Farming (http://www.ciwf.org.uk/), said: "The awards are a vital tool that allows us to engage and converse with food companies under the banner of recognition and celebration which is very successful in helping us forge strong relationships. We would like to congratulate all of our winners for the huge difference they are making to the lives of thousands of farm animals. We need more businesses to follow their excellent example and keep the momentum going across the industry.

Compassion in World Farming is recognised as the leading international farm animal welfare charity. It was founded in 1967 by Peter Roberts, a British dairy farmer, who became concerned about the development of intensive factory farming.

Based in Barton-under-Needwood, Packington Free Range is jointly run by brothers Rob and Alec Mercer. The fourth-generation farmers supply butchers, restaurants and farm shops around the country. For stockists please visit http://www.packingtonfreerange.co.uk

For more information about Packington Free Range including images and samples please contact: Cream Communications on 0845 388 9584 or email info@creamcommunications.co.uk

For further information on the Awards or the Food Business Team, please contact Jon Bennett, tel +44 1483 521 952 mob 07584 683485 or email jon.bennett@ciwf.org