Pastoral Pork Company Pty Ltd (trading as Otway Pork) - s.87B undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a section 87B undertaking from Pastoral Pork Company Pty Ltd (trading as Otway Pork) (ACN 055 017 680) (Pastoral Pork).

Pastoral Pork is a pig production company whose range of products includes packaged cuts of fresh meat and ham under the Otway Pork brand. It supplies Otway Pork products to Coles, independent supermarkets and butchers in Australia.

Between July 2000 and December 2014 Otway Pork products included the headline statement ‘bred free range’ on its packaging, labelling, and point of sale material. The headline statement was also made on the website www.otwaypork.com.au.

The ACCC considers that the reference to ‘bred free range’ in the promotion of Otway Pork products is likely to give customers the overall impression that the pigs are farmed according to free range methods, which include at a minimum, that pigs are able to move about freely in an outdoor paddock on most ordinary days.

In fact, pigs reared for the Otway Pork product range are born in huts on paddocks. At approximately 3 weeks of age, the pigs are moved to straw based shelters where they live until slaughter.

Accordingly, the ACCC considers Pastoral Pork’s use of the phrase ‘bred free range’ to be inconsistent with the consumers’ understanding of those works and may therefore be false or misleading or deceptive in contravention of sections 18 and 29(1)(a) of the Australian Consumer Law.

Under the terms of the undertaking, Pastoral Pork has undertaken, for a period of three years, to among other things:

• commencing four months after the date of the Undertaking coming into effect, not make any representation to the effect that pigs used for the production of any pork product supplied by Pastoral Pork Company are born and raised, for the duration of their lives, in an environment where the pigs are able to move about freely in an outdoor paddock on most ordinary days, in circumstances when this is not the case;
• implement a Competition and Consumer Act Compliance Program for the directors, employees or other persons involved in Pastoral Pork Company’s business;
• publish a corrective notice on its website [www.otwaypork.com.au] within seven (7) days of the date of this Undertaking coming into effect, for a period of sixty (60) days.