NFU criticises Tesco’s New Zealand lamb promotion

The NFU has criticised Tesco for running promotions on New Zealand lamb in the middle of the prime season for British sheepmeat.

NFU president Meurig Raymond said he was angry this came just 18 months after commitments by Tesco boss Philip Clarke to shorten the red meat supply chain.

New Zealand lamb is currently available on “mix & match” deals in Tesco stores.

Last week the NFU’s livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe wrote to the biggest UK retailers, urging them to prioritise British lamb at the time it was at its best.

See also Lamb prices set to ease into autumn on weak demand

Mr Raymond said there was more than enough lamb available, as the UK was self-sufficient last year and numbers were even higher in 2014.

“I believe that promoting New Zealand lamb over British, and Tesco’s attempts to justify this, misleads consumers about the seasonality of lamb and sends a signal to farmers that Tesco is not prepared to promote the benefits of food produced in the UK,” he said.

“Why promote an end-of-season product, which many view as inferior, over Red Tractor-assured, fresh lamb produced in the fields, valleys and hills of England and Wales?”

A Tesco spokesman said it was committed to strengthening its relations with Brtiish sheep farmers through its 200-strong sustainable lamb group.

“We know [British lamb] is a great product and we want to ensure that we sell it in large volumes when it is at the peak of its season,” he said.

“This season we expect to sell more British lamb than ever before and over the next few weeks we are running a fantastic half-price promotion on British lamb in our stores.”

Of the other retailers, Sainsbury’s is also running promotions on New Zealand lamb, with one-third reductions on leg joints.

The UK imported 8,398t of sheepmeat from New Zealand in May – 5% less than in 2013.

But the impact of southern hemisphere import is hard to predict as shipments take up to six weeks to arrive by sea.