Fury as Tesco sells imported lamb under Scotch banner
Scottish farming leaders have vented their anger after a number of Tesco stores were found displaying New Zealand lamb under a Scottish lamb banner.
NFU Scotland (NFUS) found shelves of the imported meat at the Tesco Extra store at Hermiston Gait near Edinburgh under a sign which read: “The best Scottish lamb in season.”
This is the peak season for Scottish lamb and the annual “Wham Bam Thank You Lamb” campaign promoting Scotch Lamb has been running in recent weeks.
New Zealand lamb for sale under the Scottish lamb banner at Tesco Extra store at Hermiston Gait near Edinburgh on 11 September.
But John Armour, food policy manager at NFUS, said he knew of at least two more Tesco stores where a similar issue had occurred.
See also: New Zealand lamb still fills supermarket shelves over summer
He contacted Tesco’s lamb category manager on Friday 11 September, who said they would get in touch with the store’s buying team and would respond in due course.
Tesco also responded to NFUS on Twitter with:
@NFUStweets Thank you. We wouldn’t remove the sign, but we will try to relocate the NZ lamb to avoid confusion. – Jamie
— Tesco (@Tesco) September 11, 2015
“Deep anger”
NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie said: “The deep felt anger being directed towards Tesco over this debacle is wholly justified.
“This is totally unacceptable. Scotland’s sheep farmers and our consumers deserve much, much better than this.
“First and foremost, why is Tesco still promoting imported lamb in shelf-filling quantities when this is peak season for Scottish and UK supplies?
“This makes its well-publicised pledges of support for Scottish and UK farmers appear wafer thin.
“This is totally unacceptable. Scotland’s sheep farmers and our consumers deserve much, much better than this”
Allan Bowie, NFU Scotland president
“Secondly, this kind of point-of-sale abuse of the ‘Scottish’ brand makes Scottish farmers’ blood boil.
“It is difficult to put into words just how angry hardworking sheep farmers feel when they spot some excellent promotion of Scottish lamb in a Tesco store only to find the shelves below are filled with imported product.
“Consumers looking to support Scottish farmers and buy Scottish lamb would see this point-of-sale material, pick up a pack of lamb often without realising that it does nothing to support our sheep sector here in Scotland.”
New Zealand lamb on the shelf at Tesco on 11 September. The packs were placed under a sign for Scottish lamb.
Tesco responds and says it is supporting Scottish lamb
In response to Farmers Weekly’s query of the issue, a spokesperson from Tesco said that the retailer’s in-store signs made no claim that it only sold Scottish lamb and that as lamb was in season the “vast majority” of the lamb sold in Scottish Tesco stores was Scotch.
The spokesperson added: “We recognise the quality of Scotch lamb and we are proud to be its biggest customer, and we sell more Scotch lamb than any other retailer.
“All of our lamb counters are 100% Scotch lamb all year and our Tesco Finest lamb is also Scotch.
“Our pre-packed lamb, which currently is predominantly Scotch, is clearly labelled with the country of origin to allow our customers to simply identify Scotch products as part of their shopping choices.
“As a long-standing champion of Scottish agriculture, we are supporting Quality Meat Scotland with their ‘Wham Bam Thank You Lamb’ tour, which is visiting 30 Tesco stores across country, to showcase and offer customers the opportunity to sample Scotch lamb.
“Furthermore, another 15 Scottish Tesco stores are showcasing Scotch lamb as part of our ‘Love Local’ campaign.”
The retailer said that yesterday it had been promoting Scotch lamb in Greenock, today (Monday 14 September) in Dundee and tomorrow in Glasgow and Kirkwall.
Next week it would be promoting it in Lerwick, Dundee and Dumfries.
Tesco ‘must do better’
But Mr Bowie said: “The UK’s biggest retailer must do better.
“It must urgently review all of its signage in Scottish stores and ensure that where it proudly proclaims to be offering ‘The Best Scottish Lamb in Season’, then that is what is on the shelf.
“Tesco’s support for Scottish lamb in what has been a very difficult season is crucial and it is clear that there remains considerable scope for improvement.”