Cash Pledge for English Beef
19/10/05

MORE than £5 million has been pledged to help the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) develop and restore beef markets.

The change to the OTM rule, which will allow beef from older cattle back into the food chain, and the moves to remove the onerous conditions of the Date Based Export Scheme under which beef can be exported are great opportunities for the industry.

Defra has awarded a grant of £5.5 million for the EBLEX Beef Market Restoration Plan.

EBLEX Head of Marketing Andrew Garvey said: "We are delighted to receive this money on behalf of our English Stakeholders*.

"There is a great opportunity here to help get more of our quality beef into the domestic and export markets and to displace some imports. Our challenge is to help the industry achieve this as smoothly as possible with minimal market disruption in the short-term.

"Our three-year plan has three main elements - industry development, domestic marketing, and recovering export markets."

The industry development has already started and involves working closely with the supply chain - it will be almost 10 years since the industry prepared mature animals and some skills may need refreshing.

On the domestic market, the likely destination for much of this meat will be mince and products made from it, such as burgers. The plan is to develop these markets under the recently launched Quality Standard Mark.

Before the beef ban, 274,000 tonnes of beef worth more than £500 million were exported.

The export market must be tackled by creating a positive environment and driving demand in targeted markets. This was underlined by the intense interest in the range of quality English beef shown by the international trade at the ANUGA food fair in Cologne, last week.

Cow beef is widely consumed across continental Europe and beyond and there is a clear opportunity for exporters of this type of beef.

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