Major retailers have been called on to increase their efforts and offer more British lamb and follow suit of others, like Aldi, which is doubling its offering in the face of increasing consumer demand.
Poor prices over the summer have lowered optimism in the lamb market but news that Aldi has seen increased demand for lamb grow is welcome news to many across the industry.
The NFU has now asked other retailers if they are also seeing an increase in demand and if so, how they plan to capitalise on this.
NFUS Livestock Committee Chairman Charlie Adam commented: “We have thrown the gauntlet down to those retailers to boost lamb sales in the wake of the news that Aldi is doubling its range of domestic lamb.
“Last week Sainsbury’s also committed to extending their British lamb season in the future and this is welcomed. We now urge all retailers to increase their commitment to domestic produce.
“Our message is simple, demand for lamb is increasing and this demand must filter down to farmers who need a better return from the market. We have spoken to other retailers who have similar plans and are expecting more detail in the coming weeks.
“Scotch lamb is known for its quality and provenance and we firmly believe that the whole supply chain must work together toward a sustainable future for the sector.
“We need a fair supply chain that rewards farmers enough for their efforts. In September we saw on 43.8 per cent of the retail price being paid to the farmer.”
The latest AHDB Beef and Lamb Watch has revealed Tesco lamb facings for August 2015 have dropped by 15 per cent compared to August 2014, from 73 per cent to 58 per cent.
The report backs up the NFU’s own beef and lamb watch exercise carried out last month when members were asked to provide us with information on the lamb offers in Tesco and ASDA stores over two weekends. The NFU encouraged members to identify examples of sourcing and labelling practices, as well as pricing and promotional activity and whether this included British lamb.
Mr Sercombe said: “In June, NFU President Meurig Raymond tabled a question at Tesco’s AGM and urged the retailer to demonstrate exactly how it is delivering on its promises and commitments made at NFU Conference in 2013 and to give firm evidence that progress is being made. They then confirmed that the promises to source more meat closer to home – which they made nearly three years ago – still stood. Just days ago the UK farming unions met with Tesco to discuss the challenges facing British agriculture.
“But now, we get these figures from AHDB which seem to indicate that Tesco is saying one thing but doing another. Using facings as a key indicator, Tesco support for domestic lamb is not just below average, but it appears to be bottom of the pile. We are challenging Tesco to explain how this reduction in the percentage of British lamb sold is compatible with its open public commitments to source more meat closer to home. British farmers are once again asking, why in the peak British lamb season are Tesco not backing British?
“Tesco says it has long term aims to support British sheep producers by growing its Sustainable Lamb Group partnership but this will take time for farmers to see the benefits. We need to see positive steps now to source British lamb which is at its best.
“On the plus side, the AHDB report high lights those retailers who are consistently supporting British farming such as Waitrose, Budgens, Aldi and Morrisons, who all have 100% British lamb facings. Meanwhile, The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Lidl are showing signs of improvement but could still do better.”
