The latest figures from the RSPCA reveal that UK shoppers increasingly rate welfare as one of the most important factors in choosing the meat they buy. Freedom Foods, the certification arm of the RSPCA, has announced an increase in sales of its labelled pork and pork products for the second consecutive year.

The RSPCA said 2010 sales of its Freedom Foods range were 62 per cent higher than in 2009; it claims the figure means 400,000 more pigs got the extra space and stimulation they require last year. Sales for the first quarter of 2011 are up 116 per cent on the same period last year.

Leigh Grant, Freedom Foods’ chief executive, said “More than a quarter of all British farmed pigs are now benefiting from the RSPCA’s welfare standards, which is great progress. Shoppers really do have the power to bring about positive changes through what they buy.”

The brand last week launched a campaign aiming to tackle the perception that high welfare meat is inaccessibly expensive. With the backing of celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson Freedom Foods showed that a basket of meat and sausages, fish and fishcakes, which cost £17.20 with no higher-welfare assurances, cost £22.54 with the Freedom Food stamp on all products. Mr Worrall Thompson commented, “As this survey shows, good welfare doesn’t always have to cost as much as you might think.”

The RSPCA is also aiming to boost the profile of caterers who choose high-welfare options when sourcing their meat with its ‘Simply Ask’ restaurant finder.