Farmers target UK fast-food chains
A Welsh farmers' co-operative has launched a scheme to bolster the country's beef trade and undercut the cheap imports which provide the majority of supplies for the fast-food industry.
The ultimate aim of the Welsh Meat Company (WMC), it has revealed, is to supply beef to McDonald's in the UK. "At present, between 85% and 90% of the beef used in processing ready meals and fast foods in the UK is imported," said WMC general manager Jane James, "so there's huge potential for growing the home market."
The scheme involves Welsh dairy farmers selling their unwanted bull calves to selected member farms, which would then raise the animals until they are 12 months old, at which time they would be ready to be sent for slaughter.
Although not suitable for prime beef cuts, meat from the dairy Friesian-Holstein cross can be processed for hamburgers and other beef products.
Currently, days-old bull calves are destroyed because the cost of tagging and transporting one animal, about £8, outweighs the £3 price they would fetch at market.
By providing a support structure, including regulated feed and a contract with abattoirs, the company believes it can reduce costs.
Bull calves raised in this way could, after 12 months, fetch as much as £1.50 per kg - about £400 per animal.
The co-operative believes it can compete on price, but also offer better regulated meat with the extra cachet of being locally produced. "There's a marketing benefit that can stand a little extra price," said Hugh Barnes, technical director of the Authentic Curry Company, maker of precooked curries and stews.
Steve John, group purchasing manager for Peters Foodservice, which provides pasties, pies and sausages to the fast-food sector, said he would be interested in the beef, provided volume and consistency could be met. "We need around 12 to 14 tonnes of beef a week," he said.
John said that he currently sources all Peters Foodservice beef from Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. However, he said that he would prefer to use British produce.
According to the WMC, the local farming community has been enthusiastic about the scheme. One farm has already signed up and nearly 150 have expressed interest.
By Dan Bignold
