Quality of retail pork produced through differentiated quality-label value chains

Les Cahiers de l'IFIP, 9(1), 15-33
This paper reports the results of a study on retail pork produced through five different French quality-standard value chains: ‘Label Rouge’, ‘Agriculture Biologique’ [‘certified organic’], ‘Certification de Conformité Produit’ [‘food standards-certified’], ‘Bleu-Blanc-Coeur’, and conventional commodity pork. The aim of this study was to show which points effectively differentiate the characteristic traits of fresh retail-ready pork from each of these value chains.
A meat quality grading scorecard was developed with input from tutors and artisan butchers. The artisan butchers then used the scorecard to grade each value-chain meat at cutting and after cooking. In parallel, we carried out a series of instrumental meat quality measurements on the sample cuts, i.e. pH, colorimetry, drip loss, cooking yield, and texture measurements. To round off the study, we ran a focus group exercise with consumers to get them to voice what they understand by “pork quality”, what they expect from pork sourced through the five tested value chains, and what they expect from their artisan butchers.
The focus group exercise showed unanimous appreciation for pork, as it is affordable, easy to prepare, liked by kids, and can be eaten hot or cold. However, it also found that the proliferation of different quality labels may prove counterproductive, as consumers struggle to navigate the array of labels on offer. Furthermore, consumers are underequipped to gauge the quality of retail pork produced through different quality-label value chains, and so they rely on their butcher to tell them which cuts to buy and which provenance to opt for. This means that artisan butchers need inside-out knowledge of the production standards for each label scheme so that they can explain the value offered by each kind of quality label and where it serves best.