Waitrose Supports Lamb Farmers As Industry Faces Collapsing Prices

As the British lamb industry faces crisis with collapsing prices, Waitrose is bucking the trend and supporting its lamb farmers by paying them a premium for quality meat. Going into the new season, Waitrose has been paying its dedicated producers around 10% above market rate for early lamb.

The supermarket has taken this unusual step because it considers the current market price for new season Welsh lamb unsustainable for farmers as it does not reflect the costs associated with producing early lambs.

This year prices for new season lamb have been depressed by several factors, including the wide availability of old season British lamb – based on the availability of produce from farmers.

Waitrose has been selling new season Welsh lamb in 50 of its branches since the start of May. The retailer will be offering new season British and Welsh lamb across all its branches by 8th June, when it will cease to sell any fresh New Zealand lamb for the duration of the British season of available lambs from Waitrose producers.

Representing 450 Welsh farmers who supply Waitrose with lamb, Jon Morgan of Livestock Marketing says: "The importance of a collaborative is supply chain where the farmer and the supermarket understand each other's businesses, is evident in a year when market prices collapse. By taking a long term view Waitrose is ensuring a sustainable and continued supply from a group of known producers it has worked with for the last 15 seasons."

Gareth Vaughan, President of the Farmers Union of Wales comments: "I firmly believe that dedicated producer groups - where all parties have a clear understanding of the market and its challenges - is the way forward. This enables farmers to plan their season with confidence, safe in the knowledge that they will have support during market fluctuations. As such I fully support Waitrose's commitment to backing their lamb producers in this way."

Jane Clarke, Waitrose Central Meat Buyer, said: "Our policy has always been to support our farmers and pay them in line with the care and expertise that goes into producing quality lamb for Waitrose. As a team, we work towards a long term, sustainable lamb market, and ensure our farmers are paid a fair price which considers the cost of production."

"We are also maintaining a fair pricing policy to our beef farmers despite the current well publicised weakness of the cattle market. We are fully aware of the cost of production issues in the industry and our Aberdeen Angus and Hereford schemes recognise this by providing a stable and long term premium to the market, for a quality product. We equally endeavour to price our British Beef offer with a view to smoothing out the peaks and troughs of the weekly market place. The principles of a dedicated producer group and a collaborative supply chain are actively in action across all our primary producer groups, and this commitment provides a solid boost in confidence for the group's members to maintain and increase production, and invest in the future."