For Coles, the customer is always right. The supermarket chain now actively supports their customers' choice for fresh pork from farms which do not use sow stalls by 2014.

Coles spokesman Jim Cooper says the decision resulted in a double-digit sales growth in the company's pork products. He said, "People support the move and they see it very positively, I think there's hard proof coming through that it's something that is worth the industry considering."

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) executive Heather Neil welcomes Coles' decision as a leadership move. Neil emphasized that the decision is a strong signal on pig welfare. She added that it shows Coles values the opinion of its customers."

However, Australian Pork Limited CEO Andrew Spencer says the decision is unfair for local producers. Spencer claims, "Australia's importing 70 per cent of its ham and bacon from Denmark and North America. It's very hard to compete with those countries because of their subsidies." He insisted for Coles to apply the same standards to all of the pigs that supply Coles pork products."

Local pork farmers consider the decision as a discrimination against them. Coles' Cooper, though, cannot say how much pork the supermarket chain imports from Denmark and North America.