Provenance - Part of Food Context
07/10/05

In welcoming the conclusions of the research - Connecting Consumers with Farming and Farm Produce - published by the IGD, the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) said provenance is important to shoppers when it's provided in context, along with information on quality and assurance.

Richard Ali, EBLEX Chief Executive said: "We have learned that faced with a proliferation of foods, shoppers across the country are increasingly interested in making informed choices. Food context is a crucial part of informing choice.

"The conclusions of the IGD report support the development of our Quality Standard Marks (QSM) for beef and lamb, which help provide shoppers with food context; communicating quality, assurance, and provenance.

"Independent research has also shown significantly more than half of England's shoppers are willing to pay a premium for Quality Standard beef and lamb and the majority of those would pay up to 10 per cent more."

1. IGD research found that 87 percent of people consider farming to be important to Britain and see it as an important part of British heritage. It also found that country of origin is low on the list of what they look for. Price, taste and sell-by date are the top-three considerations. IGD concluded that the challenge is to communicate the connection between food production and the countryside.

2. The EBLEX Quality Standard Mark Scheme's requirements are designed to ensure that QSM beef and lamb is consistently succulent and tender. The Scheme also requires QSM beef and lamb is produced by a fully assured and independently inspected supply chain, and is produced to higher standards than required by law. It remains the only scheme in the UK to include criteria to improve the eating quality of beef and lamb.

3. Meat from an animal born, raised and slaughtered in England is eligible to carry the Quality Standard beef or Quality Standard lamb Mark indicating English origin with the St George's Flag. If an animal cannot meet all the criteria, for example it is born in Scotland or Wales, it can carry the Quality Standard Mark but indicate British origin with the Union flag.

4. Since the consumer roll out in March this year, independent research has shown that 72 per cent of English shoppers believe the QSM is a label to trust, 66 per cent believe it represents good tasting beef and lamb, and 62 per cent said QSM beef and lamb was worth paying a premium for.