Beef cost warning for British stores
A delegation from the ICSA travelled to London to meet with the senior meat buyers of Tesco and Sainsbury. These were the first in a series of meetings with the main British supermarkets as part of its long-term beef strategy.
ICSA said it told the British supermarket meat bosses that the whole production environment for beef production will change dramatically post-decoupling.
Farmers will only produce for a profit. The retailers will need to pay a higher price in order to secure supplies.
Ray Dunne, ICSA policy officer, said the meetings were very worthwhile.
“ICSA pointed out that Irish farmers are not making profits at the current price. While R grade steers are making €2.95/kg in Britain, the same animals in Ireland are making €2.63/kg.
“This is despite the fact that we were informed that Irish and British beef is retailing at the same price in British supermarkets. ICSA wants to see the gap narrowing between Irish and British farmer prices.”
The ICSA said that Tesco senior meat buying manager Alex Brown explained that Tesco beef sales are currently growing 20% year on year.
Irish beef continues to be popular alongside British meat and customers continue to buy it in significant volumes.
But Mr Dunne said the fact that only 20% of Irish meat exported to Britain is sold through supermarkets means that there is an opportunity to add value to the other 40%.
