Britain’s sheep farmers are looking to strengthen their foothold in Europe’s lucrative meat market, with buyers from across the EU travelling to the UK last week as part of a major trade mission.
The initiative, led by levy organisation AHDB, brought together 12 delegates from France, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands between 15 and 17 September.
The three-day programme showcased the very best of British lamb through farm and processor visits, butchers’ and retailers’ tours, and a special tasting dinner designed to highlight its quality and versatility.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a buoyant export performance. Figures for the first half of 2025 show that UK red meat exports, including offal, rose by nearly 10% year on year to reach £966 million.
Exports of fresh and frozen sheep meat to the EU alone increased in value by 13 percent, hitting £323 million.
According to AHDB’s head of international marketing, Gareth Renowden, building lasting relationships is central to sustaining this growth.
“Making strong connections with people is key to helping ensure UK red meat exports thrive,” he said. “We were delighted to host delegates from across the EU for them to gain valuable insight into how we produce our world-class lamb.”
He added that the EU remains “our biggest trading partner and a key destination for British lamb”, pointing out that export trade “adds value of £40 per head for the sheep meat sector”.
For Renowden, welcoming visitors from overseas is not just about showcasing product, but also “a fantastic opportunity to build trust, understanding and appreciation of our world-class production standards”.
The mission follows a particularly busy period for AHDB. Earlier this year, the board launched a multilingual Quality Meat from Britain website aimed at reinforcing consistent messaging around provenance and high production standards across European markets.
The organisation has also strengthened its partnership with Interbev – France’s National Interprofessional Association of Livestock and Meat – to expand the Changeons l’Agneau (Let’s Change Lamb) campaign.
This initiative has been instrumental in training butchers and promoting smaller cuts of lamb to appeal to younger French consumers.
Looking ahead, AHDB will be taking British red meat exporters to Cologne in October for Anuga, the world’s largest international food trade show, where industry buyers and decision makers from across the globe gather.
“We’ve been very active, working on behalf of our levy payers to add value to the red meat sector,” Renowden explained. “This inward mission is part of a wider portfolio of international trade development activity.
"This includes work on market access, participation in international trade shows, outward missions and the work of our representatives in-market.”
He said that the combination of “on the ground” engagement, backed by detailed consumer and market analysis from AHDB’s Market Intelligence team, provides exporters with the insights and support they need to succeed abroad.
“Following this mission, we are looking forward to Anuga next month to support our exporters in building on existing business relationships and to develop new ones,” he added.
“We look forward to continuing working with industry and government to support our exporters in being best placed to ensure our world-class produce thrives internationally.”
