£1.2m beef ad campaign launched to help hindquarter

The meat levy bodies for England, Scotland and Wales are launching a £1.2m national advertising campaign to try to encourage consumers to use more high-end cuts of beef.

Running for 12 weeks, the “Make it with beef” campaign will include TV ads, video, radio and social media content.

It aims to inspire consumers to create restaurant-style meals in the comfort of their own homes, using a variety of high-quality hindquarter cuts.

See also: UK and US meat sectors battle supply chain challenges

Since the coronavirus lockdown at the end of March and the closure of restaurants and pubs, there has been a sharp downturn in sales of steaks and roasting joints, and an uplift in cheaper products such as mince.

To meet demand for mince, processors are having to use higher-value hindquarter and steak cuts, which leads to a drop in the overall retail value of the carcass and a subsequent drop in potential returns to beef farmers.

Joint effort

A statement from the levy boards said: “This is a unique joint effort by AHDB, Quality Meat Scotland and Hybu Cig Cymru, which we hope will drive an uptake in steak and roasting joint sales in the run up to barbecue season.”

The campaign is being funded from the £3.5m pot of AHDB red meat levies ring-fenced for collaborative projects, which is managed by the three GB meat levy bodies.

This fund is an interim arrangement while a long-term solution is sought on the issue of levies being collected at point of slaughter in England for animals that have been reared in Scotland or Wales.

The campaign will be supported with “how to” videos and cooking tips, and influencer-driven content.

It aims to reach 85% of UK households in the coming months.