If one assumes three-quarters of the pork from the progeny of these pigs ends up with an "outdoors" description of some sort on the label, it means nearly a third of English pigmeat is now differentiated in a way the continentals simply cannot copy.

This means English pig producers are shedding their "perfect-competition" strait-jacket. It means they are (in theory at least) moving away from being price-takers.

"Perfect-competition" is the economists' term for a market in which there are many small producers, they do not differentiate their product, they are price-takers, and they make "zero economic profit" ie. just enough to stay in business. Sound familiar?

There are few perfect examples of perfect-competition. Cabbages would be a candidate perhaps, and certainly continental pigmeat. But what are the implications for English pig producers as they move from perfect-competition to imperfect-competition?

More to follow soon...