Melton Mowbray Pork Pies won’t be playing a big part in the 海角视频’s post-Brexit relationship with the United States, according to the biggest 海角视频 manufacturer.
Samworth Brothers tried exporting its pork pies to a handful of countries a few years ago – but because of the short shelf-life and the technicalities involved, it was simply not cost effective.
So the business stopped overseas sales two years ago.
Boris Johnson had suggested at the weekend's G7 conference that Melton still sends its pies to Thailand and Iceland - but was missing out on US sales because of current trade rules.
However, a Samworth spokeswoman said: “Walker & Son used to export very small amounts to a few markets but we have not done so for the last two years or so.
“The sales, which were just a tiny percentage of our overall turnover, were mostly in Hong Kong and Singapore.
“However about two years ago we had a change of strategy and decided not to continue with this.”
Under European law the pies are protected by a geographical indication mark, which recognises the freestanding baking method, the filling and the geographical uniqueness of a Melton Mowbray pork pie.
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They could lose that protection - which they gained in 2006 - if the 海角视频 leaves the European Union without a deal, making the pie vulnerable to inferior copies.
Samworth Brothers has several factories in Melton and in Leicester, and as well as owning Walker and Son and Dickinson and Morris pork pies, owns Walkers sausages, the Ginsters and West Cornwall Pasty businesses and Soreen malt loaves.
It is also the 海角视频’s second biggest maker of sandwiches and wraps, and the market leader for savouries and pasties and potato-based ready meals.
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Back in 2015 the business told the Leicester Mercury that it believed there was an export opportunity among ex-pats and local overseas markets looking for a traditional British pork pie.
It sent more than 50,000 pies – weighing in at five tonnes – by ship and air freight to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, St Lucia, Iceland, France and Barbados after finding a way to freeze them, which, it said at the time, could maintain the quality.
Back then the Mercury reported: “By 2018, Walker & Son hopes to generate 10 per cent of its turnover from exports.”
Samworth even exhibited its products at the 海角视频 National Day at the Milan Expo.
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In 2015 an export executive at Samworth subsidiary Charnwood Bakery said: “The expat markets are the ones that have been easiest to target, because demand was already there.
“Then we exhibited in Paris last year and we discovered that the French loved our pies. People love a quality product.
“Now we are introducing them around the world, and building contacts with distributors.
“Iceland, for instance, is a country that likes premium products and they are a wealthy country too, so we expect lots of demand there.
“They go by air to Hong Kong and by ship everywhere else.”
Cabinet minister Elizabeth Truss, speaking at the 2015 Milan Expo, echoed his enthusiasm.
She said: “I’m delighted people from Iceland to Singapore now have the chance to enjoy this delicious British delicacy thanks to the can-do attitude of our pork pie makers.
“Melton Mowbray pork pies are a personal favourite of mine, and their protected status means they are made based on years of tradition in the heart of England, using the best of British pork.
“Food and drink is one of our big export successes, and I’m delighted to see it take a starring role at the Milan Expo where we are celebrating all things grown in Britain.
“It is yet another example of the global appetite for top-quality British food.”
While residents of Thailand and Iceland can no longer buy a Melton pork pie in their local shop, Dickinson & Morris are still available back home in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Co-op, and Morrisons and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in Melton town centre.