Two supermarkets give boost to livestock farmers in North

Mar 7 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

LIVESTOCK farmers in the North East received a double boost yesterday as two major supermarkets announced they were supporting British meat producers.

Supermarket chain Morrisons announced a move to only stock 100% British fresh beef. And Sainsbury’s said it has started to source pure-bred Blackface lamb from members of the Blackface Sheep Breeders Association in Scotland and the North of England.

The move by Morrisons was welcomed by the National Farmers Union and beef industry leaders. Malcolm Corbett, NFU livestock representative in the North East, said: “This is really good news. The fact that one of Britain’s leading supermarkets is moving to 100% British fresh beef will be tremendously encouraging to livestock farmers.

“It is a reflection both of the excellence of the product, the support it enjoys from British consumers and sets an example that we very much hope all of the major supermarkets will follow.”

And Steve Powdrill, North East regional manager at the English Beef and Lamb Executive, echoed those views. He said: “Obviously we welcome any support that English producers receive. We support anything that will give a better deal for farmers.”

Morrisons corporate affairs director Chris Blundell said: “We are different from the other major supermarkets in that we specialise in food we source, and process fresh food ourselves and prepare it in store. We already sell only 100% British fresh pork, lamb and poultry and this move to 100% British fresh beef is part of our commitment to offering fresh, British-sourced food wherever we can and supporting British farming.”

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s said its lamb will be labelled “Border Blackface Lamb” and sold as part of Sainsbury’s premium “Taste the Difference” range. This promotion has been set up between Dunbia (Wales) Ltd, Sainsbury’s and the Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association.

Karen Schenstrom, Fresh Foods Business Unit director at Sainsbury’s, said: “We have a strong regional sourcing strategy, and take lamb from local farmers for our meat counters and pre-packed meat sections. All our Taste the Difference primal lamb is from the UK, and we hope to source between 1,000 and 2,000 Blackface lambs each week from the North of England and Scotland. We have worked hard to ensure that, during a very difficult time for sheep farmers in this country, we have been able to offer our customers a full range of fresh British lamb, and have encouraged people to buy more lamb through a programme of national advertising, countrywide tastings, offering recipe tips and promoting cuts of meat not widely available.”

Aileen McFadzean, promotions manager with the Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association, said: “We are delighted that Sainsbury has chosen Blackface lamb for its ‘Taste the Difference’ range, this is a major boost for the breed. We have always believed in the superb eating quality of our product and this is great news for our members and producers.”