United Kingdom-Farmers serious allegations against Supermarkets.

Farming: Beef farmers’ fury at supermarket ’mixes’

MULTIPLE retailers are mixing large volumes of discounted beef from the Republic of Ireland with more expensive beef produced within the UK, the National Beef Association revealed yesterday.

And it claimed that this is making it difficult to lift domestic prime cattle prices to the levels justified by increasingly tight supplies because cattle values in Ireland have been reducing steadily over recent weeks following sustained attacks oADVERTISEMENTn ex-farm prices from the country’s biggest processors.

"Slaughter cattle in the Republic of Ireland are £70-£80 a head cheaper than the UK average in sterling terms, and this combines with the interest of influential retailers like Asda in unusually high volumes of cheaper imported beef, to explain why cattle prices across Britain and Northern Ireland have begun to slip steadily on a progressive basis," said NBA director, Kim Haywood.

"Over 2007, and the first half of 2008, cattle in the UK became noticeably dearer after most retailers responded to industry encouragement to concentrate more of their sourcing on beef from home-produced animals and purchase less from Ireland.

"However the most recent information shows that just Morrisons, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, the Co-op and Budgens deserve unstinting praise as the only multiple retail companies selling 100 per cent British beef."

According to the NBA, recent survey figures revealed that Tesco, which at one stage in 2007 had 98 per cent British beef on its shelves, is now offering only around 90 per cent.