Waitrose has pledged to sell British beef from 20 native breeds as part of a move to provide farmers with greater flexibility.
The new breeds will come via the retailer's beef provider Dovecote Park, based in Yorkshire, and will include Red Ruby, Belted Galloway, Welsh Black and others.
Red Ruby, a West Country breed, has been chosen for its "well-marbled beef that’s prized for its tenderness and is always full of rich flavour".
While the Belted Galloway, a Scottish breed, is "slow to mature, giving their meat a complex flavour and texture, and it’s naturally lean".
Waitrose said the move would give farmers greater flexibility as it would "enable many to revert to the native breeds their families would have farmed years ago on their land."
This would help preserve their cultural identity, the company said, while helping to bring back lesser-known rare breeds to ensure breed diversity remains strong across the UK.
The roll out will apply to the retailer's whole beef range, including pre-packed products in the meat aisle, butchery counters and ready meals.
Like the Hereford and Aberdeen Angus beef already stocked, the new breeds have been selected for specific traits, such as quality and taste.
Announcing the move, Oliver Chadwyck-Healey, Waitrose beef buyer, said the retailer was 'deeply committed' to British farming.
"By diversifying our beef range and sourcing more from native breeds, we are able to support our farmers by providing them greater flexibility.
"It also means we can offer our customers exceptionally high quality, higher welfare beef at great value at a time when we know both price and animal welfare are so important to them.”
