Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales and NFU Scotland are trying to stimulate demand for Welsh and Scotch lamb after farmers in Wales and Scotland voiced their concerns over the fall in lamb prices.
A strong pound and increased red meat imports – particularly lamb from New Zealand - coupled with a plentiful domestic supply caused by a favourable spring and consumer demand hitting a plateau has affected returns for UK farmers during the first half of the year, with Welsh and Scottish farmers receiving between £20 and £30 a head less compared to last year.
As a result, Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales and NFU Scotland will launch a series of marketing initiatives to highlight the quality of Welsh and Scotch lamb in order to stimulate consumer demand. The Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales will promote Welsh lamb through television and billboard advertising and digital marketing whilst NFU Scotland members will be serving samples of Scotch lamb in supermarkets, high streets, restaurants and at other major events.
Furthermore, Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales is in talks with the major supermarket chains to discuss the availability of Welsh lamb in their stores following claims that some have been favouring imported meat over home grown produce.
Additionally, NFU Scotland's latest ScotchWatch investigation of supermarket shelves, (which consists of looking at the space being given to Scotch lamb by retailers,) has garnered support from Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi. Other retailers, such as Asda, Marks & Spencer and Tesco are switching from New Zealand imports to Scottish produced product.
NFU Scotland’s livestock committee chairman Charlie Adam said: “To deliver real change for our sheep sector we are asking retailers to buy Scotch lamb two weeks later in the winter and for them to come into the home lamb market two weeks earlier in the spring.
“In terms of driving sales and demand, Scottish sheep farmers will take matters into their own hands by getting out and speaking to consumers. The lamb tasting events staged by farmers last year built on QMS’s annual Scotch lamb promotion campaign and boosted sales by 11 per cent in that period.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
