Morrisons will not be selling its new vegan pork pies in Melton Mowbray, home of the traditional pork pie, to avoid offending locals who are fiercely proud of its heritage.
Morrisons recently announced it would become the first supermarket in the UK to sell vegan pork pies, and although they will be rolled out to stores across the country on December 9th, customers looking for them at the supermarket’s store in Melton Mowbray won’t be able to find them.
According to a leaked memo, the new porkless pies will not be stocked in Melton Mowbray as it is the home of the traditional pork pie and locals are fiercely proud of its heritage.
The memo reads: “As Melton Mowbray is celebrated around the world as the home of the original Pork Pie, the decision has been taken that only pork pies made following the traditional meat-based recipe should be stocked in the store.
“Melton Mowbray residents are known for being fans/ambassadors of ‘their’ Pork Pie and so to avoid any offence we’ll be delisting the vegan pork pie in this store.”
A Morrisons spokesperson confirmed the memo was accurate, saying: “We have let our Melton store know they won’t be selling the ”no pork” pie due to the town’s strong heritage with the traditional pork pie.”
The famous pies have been produced in the Leicestershire town since the late 18th century, and in 1998, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association was created in a bid to protect the heritage of the snack by introducing a geographical indication status to protect the pie.
Stephen Hallam, treasurer of the association and managing director of Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in Melton, the only pork pie bakery remaining in the town, welcomed the ban.
Dismissing it as a “marketing ploy”, he said: “It’s a case of semantics really, it can’t be a pork pie if it doesn’t have pork in it. The Melton Mowbray pork pie can never be beaten in the hearts and minds of the people who live here.”
The vegan pork pies will appear at Morrisons pie shops in-store on December 9th and will retail at £1.75 or two for £3.
