United Kingdom-Marketing Lamb.

From The TimesMarch 7, 2009

Butchers urged to sell meat from rare British sheep

From The Times March 7 2009

Asking for a bit of Rough or some Herdy for the Sunday roast or lamb-chop supper may one day be familiar requests by shoppers at supermarkets and butchers’ shops.

A campaign has begun to bring rare heritage breeds of sheep to our dinner plates. Farming chiefs have started talks with leading supermarkets to widen the market for native sheep such the Rough Fell, the Herdwick, the Romney and the Exmoor Horn.

The aim is not only to introduce new tastes — these slower-maturing breeds have a distinctive, gamey flavour — but also to save heritage sheep from extinction.

Scientific and veterinary experts fear that outbreaks of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth or bluetongue could wipe out many breeds. These sheep are vulnerable because they tend to geographical clusters, adding to a region’s cultural identity.

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Herdwick flocks, for example, have been in the Lake District since the Vikings and are an important part of the Beatrix Potter tourist trail. The children’s author bought local farms to encourage a revival of the Herdwick breed. She left her farms to the National Trust, which has led the promotion of Herdwick meat.

But research by the Sheep Trust has found that some 95 per cent of Herdwicks — 50,000 animals — are within 14 miles of Coniston. A disease hotspot could decimate the breed. Similarly, 95 per cent of the South Wales Mountain breed is less than 16 miles from the coalfields of the Rhondda Valley, and the South Country Cheviot is concentrated in the Cheviot Hills of the Scottish Borders.

One way to protect native breeds is to increase demand for their meat, which would encourage farmers to rear more animals. Professor Diana Bowles, who chairs the Sheep Trust and is a biochemist at the University of York, said: "We need people to ask for them when eating out and shopping. I don’t just mean at farmers’ markets and specialist shops but in leading supermarkets. We need to market the difference in the taste, which is stunning."

She has handed the distribution data to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Among other sheep at risk are Exmoor Horn, Lonk, Devon Closewool, Dalesbred and Welsh Hill Speckled Face.

Sir Don Curry, architect of the Government’s food and farming strategy, has been talking to retailers but said they needed to agree a quality standard. "There are already good examples of traditional varieties of apples and potatoes being marketed successfully and I can see no reason why it can’t be done with meat," he said.

Even though there was insufficient volume to put native breed meat in all supermarkets, there was scope for geographically-linked niche products. Booths, an independent supermarket chain in the North, has been featuring Herdwick lamb joints in 20 stores from January.

TOUGHEST OF BREEDS

Will Rawling has kept Herdwicks for 40 years and is convinced that the meat will soon be on sale in mainstream supermarkets.

He keeps a flock of 1,500 that graze on difficult upland terrain around Ennerdale in the Lake District. As chairman of the Herdwick Breeders’ Association it is his job to promote the breed, but for Mr Rawling it is a passion.

"Herdwicks are the native upland sheep of the Lake District and they are the hardiest and toughest of British breeds," he said. "What is exceptional is that they can survive and flourish on virtually nothing. They eat grass and the rough vegetation in the fells that other breeds won’t touch. I am certain there is a huge market for the meat."

He also believes that the Herdwick meat could be sold as mutton. "The meat has a slightly different taste from standard lamb. It has a distinctive gamey taste, but it has got potential. I am sure supermarkets will get into Herdwicks in the near future