Chicken is the biggest enemy
Chicken is the biggest enemy
SUPERMARKETS should be viewed as friends rather than foes, and of all products sold, chicken is beefs greatest enemy, according to Andrew Chitty, chief of meat processors the Chitty Group.
Mr Chitty told producers attending a meeting in Bath, Avon, that British supermarkets are the most efficient in the world, and sell 75% of beef produced within the UK. "They should be viewed as our friends because they sell your product – beef."
He told producers that the main concern with beef was its inconsistent quality as fat levels, muscle depth and colour often varied greatly.
"Look at poultry – which has stolen most of our beef business – there is no inconsistency there. It might be bland and boring, but it is consistently so, and that is what consumers want.
"The beef industry must get its act together. We need, like the poultry industry, to be fully integrated from beginning when considering genetics, to end, when selling products on the shelf."
Producing leaner, more tender beef of a consistent quality would help regain some market share, said Mr Chitty. "You produce the quality product, we will sell it, and we will get more shelf space back." *