Waitrose sets minimum farmgate beef price until October

Two top supermarkets have taken action on calls from struggling British beef producers.

Waitrose has promised to pay British farmers no less than 345p/kg deadweight until 1 October, adding to the 340p/kg minimum set in early May.

Working with its sole beef supplier Dovecote Park, Waitrose will raise its current price by 2p/kg this week.

See also: Opinion: Action not words needed on beef

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco also launched a half-price promotion on beef steaks for 4-6 July.

It took out adverts in national newspapers (see below) to announce it was dropping the cost of rump to £8.50/kg and sirloin to £10/kg for selected British and Irish beef.

At the beef summit in Westminster this week , farm leaders urged the supermarkets to consider dropping on-shelf prices to boost dwindling consumer demand.

“It is what we have been talking about as long as it is British that they are promoting and it is transparently labelled to the consumer,” NFU chief livestock adviser Pete Garbutt.

“With the difference between the retail price and the farmgate price, [the supermarkets] have got margin built up in the past year. Price cuts are one thing we can do to stimulate demand.”

Mr Garbutt said Waitrose’s commitment helped build trust between producers and processors.

“Waitrose did this pretty early on and we came out and praised them for it at the time. We continue to praise them for that long term vision,” he said.

Waitrose buying director Heather Jenkins said the supermarket felt a thriving domestic beef sector was vital to the long-term stability and health of UK farming.

“The farmers who supply us are the lynchpin of our fresh food business and we believe it’s vital to have long term relationships with them founded on fairness and trust,” she said.

“We recognise that the beef industry is facing challenging times in the current market and we want to send a positive message to our producers.”

The plummeting beef trade showed signs of bottoming out this week, as the GB all-steers deadweight average lost 0.1p/kg to 327.4p/kg.

The average price for R4L steers rose from 337.6p/kg to 339p/kg.

However, this was still 68.7p/kg lower than 12 months before.

The latest Rabobank report forecasted European beef prices to stabilise over the summer and rise again later in the year due to tighter supplies, strong demand for exports and similarly high prices for other meats.