AHDB’s latest Beef and Lamb watch shows us that 71% of lamb and 85% of beef facings have been British during June 2016.
Aldi, Budgens, Marks and Spencer, Morrison and Waitrose are the retailers who committed to stock 100% British beef and lamb during June. It is promising to see the continued commitment to quality British product and a great example of retailers working with agriculture. In particular Marks and Spencer’s and Co-op, both increasing their levels of British lamb dramatically over the year, we hope these retailers can now set a precedent for others to follow, demonstrating their support of British agriculture.
The performance of other retailers in these June figures indicated the scope for improvement as we entered the prime British lamb season. Lidl stocked just 45% British lamb; ASDA and Tesco also sat very low with 50% and 59% of their lamb facings as British. The share of British facings in all three were lower than the June 2015 figures. Along with Sainsbury’s (56% of facings were British in June 2016), their performance in the August figures will be under scrutiny from farmers, with the prime lamb season giving a great opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to quality British produce.
Beef production reflects some stronger ties to British produce with a promising amount of retailers committing to 100%. However, ASDA continues to supply only 60% British and are failing to improve on this. Tesco is also lower on beef sales, although this has risen 11% in the latest survey, a really promising step.
This information comes as we are entering prime season for British lamb and as a result, we hope we see more retailers recognising this and committing to supplying 100% British product going forward.