Poll: Do retailers do enough to back British lamb?
© Philip Case Supermarkets are gearing up for their annual Easter promotions on lamb, with UK sheep farmers seeking strong signals of support for domestic produce.
In recent years, Easter promotions on Australian and New Zealand lamb have dominated some supermarket shelves, causing anger and frustration among hardworking UK sheep farmers and farming unions.
The National Sheep Association (NSA) maintains that at a time of year when consumers are looking to buy lamb, British products should be given pride of place on chiller shelves.
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But some retailers claim that British lamb is “out of season” at Easter, and therefore they must rely on imported lamb. The NSA has rubbished these claims, insisting that quality lamb is available to source year round.
The NFU wants to see consumers given a choice, with country of origin clearly labelled and retailers using headline messages to support British sheep farmers. However, the reality is that commingling – mixing of domestic and imported produce on shelves – is still rife.
Similar packaging of home-produced and imported lamb also made it difficult for shoppers to make informed choices.
Farmers Weekly staff members have been visiting supermarkets across the country this week to see whether they are sticking to their commitments to support British sheep farmers. We will reveal the results later this week.
In the meantime, have your say in our poll: