Pork Scratchings are Back in Stock!

There are certain elements of a visit to the local pub that customers take for granted.

Beer, wine and bar snacks are usually a guarantee but in the early months of 2025, normality came under threat by a foot and mouth outbreak amongst animals in Eastern Europe.

This severely impacted the supply of pork rind leading to a shortage of Pork Scratchings across the trade.

Landlords, wholesalers and factory owners were left scratching their heads!
The team at Snack Brands, home of Uncle Alberts Porkshire Pig were suddenly inundated with panicked phone calls from competitors desperately trying to plug holes in their supply.

Alex Morrisey, Head of Sales and Marketing at Snack Brands shares his thoughts on the unique challenges the industry has faced and is optimistic about the resilience of the humble Pork Scratching.

‘’We started the year riding the coat tails of the keto diet phenomenon, our Crunch product was seeing really strong sales and our scratchings and crackling were flying out too.

April was a difficult month, we were essentially rationed by our suppliers and our sales took a 20% hit on the previous year.

Bumps in the road can also present an opportunity, our Jalapeno and Roast Pork Crackling were readily available and we were able to push these products into some of our larger stockists. The industry has faced 9 years of challenges from Brexit to the energy crisis via a global pandemic but we are optimistic about growing our business in a more stable business environment.

Thankfully the restrictions have recently been lifted by DEFRA, ‘’We are fully stocked and have just launched our brand new website, www.snackbrands.co.uk, trade customers can sign up for exclusive discounts.’’