Lost beef and lamb campaign ‘was worth £9m’

Livestock farmers will miss out on nearly £9m in expected sales of beef and lamb after the government failed to sign off an industry-funded marketing campaign, it has emerged.

The AHDB Beef and Lamb campaign was due to get under way this autumn to coincide with the peak supply season for domestically produced lamb.

See also: Chairman resigns from beef and lamb levy board

Similar work in 2014 delivered added value to the carcass worth £1m to the beef sector and £2.3m to the lamb sector, according to AHDB figures.

In 2015, the combined growth target across the two sectors was about £8.7m, with AHDB Beef and Lamb proposing expenditure on consumer marketing of £1.2m.

This would have amounted to a forecast return on investment target of 8:1.

Agreed by the AHDB Beef and Lamb board last November, promotional activity would have included television and print advertisements, and social media activity.

The aim was to promote and develop the market for “mini-roast” cuts of meat – easy-to-prepare joints of beef and lamb that can be cooked in just 30 minutes.

Under the strapline “Why wait till Sunday?”, the mini-roasts were to be marketed as a tasty midweek equivalent of traditional roast – but without the hassle.

Last year’s campaign was seen as a great success, reaching an estimated 2.8 million housewives with children and a further 2.3 million people watching the TV advert online.

Some 68% said the advertisements made mini-roasts more appealing, with the digital campaign encouraging more than 100,000 people to visit a recipe website online.

But the government failed to sign-off a repeat of the campaign for this autumn – prompting the resignation of AHDB Beef and Lamb chairman Stuart Roberts on Monday (24 August).

Mr Roberts insisted his resignation wasn’t just about signing off the mini-roast campaign – it was about the wider issue of how the government treated levy payers’ money.

“It should be for levy payers to decide how their money is spent,” he said.

Signing off a marketing campaign, which would have brought benefits to the sector and which had already been agreed by AHDB board, should have been a formality, said Mr Roberts.

Because levies raised from the farming sector are compulsory, the AHDB is required to secure additional government sign-off on its consumer marketing work

But Mr Roberts said the mini-roast campaign was far from generic advertising.

“It has a beneficial role in developing new and exciting cuts of meat that would add value to the carcass at a time when the industry desperately needs it,” he said.

Pig producers who pay a levy of 85p a pig have also called on the government to keep out of decisions about how the money raised is spent.

A six-week Pulled Pork campaign in May and June created a 19.2% uplift in volume sales of fresh pork shoulder, according to figures published by the National Pig Association.

About £3.8m of the annual pig levy is currently spent on AHDB Pork marketing activity – equivalent to about 40% of the sector board’s total yearly spend.

Some 90% of respondents to a poll on the National Pig Association website said the Pulled Pork campaign was a good pig levy investment.

The NPA said 90% of its members also believed Defra should not dictate whether future AHDB Pork marketing campaigns get the go-ahead or not.

NFU president Meurig Raymond added: “For the NFU it is a fundamental point of principle that the AHDB decides how levy payers’ money is spent.

“This is a body wholly funded and set up to serve the farming industry. AHDB should also ensure that this money gives value across all of its activities.

“I know that many farmers are extremely angry that promotional funding of beef and lamb by AHDB appears not to have been approved by government,” said Mr Raymond.

“Sheep farmers in particular are now demanding action as the sector faces grave pressure from the current market conditions.

“They are calling for scheduled marketing and promotion of lamb at this time to make consumers aware of the quality of our product,” he said.

Mr Raymond called on the government to remove any blockages from the current process and to consider exemptions from measures that have contributed to any delay.

“This is the time for the government to demonstrate its commitment to British livestock farmers and to remember that the levy boards are predominantly funded by farmers, for farmers.”

In a statement, a Defra spokesman said: “As a public body, AHDB has always been accountable to parliament for how it spends levy payers’ money.”

The AHDB leadership team was introducing crucial changes to give farmers better value for money, said the Defra spokeswoman.

“These changes will focus on both the best interests of the industry and delivering for levy payers.”