UK cuts set to be dearer Disrupted supplies and possibly unsustainable differentials between the prices of home-produced and imported meat are causing increasing concern among traders. Cheap beef mince is the most obvious example, mentioned by traders in conversations with The Grocer at the National Festival of Meat in London on December 1. At first sight abundant mince is just tempting consumers away from premium cuts and some further processed meat, creating price pressure in a market where end demand is quite strong. But one leading processor, one of the biggest abattoir operators, said much of the mince was from Ireland, and because the imported meat was sold in this form, had not yet caused serious trouble in the retail markets for the premium cuts and joints. According to this supplier, the widening gap between cattle prices in the UK and in other EU and third country livestock markets is creating a cost distortion that can not be contained within mince permanently. The unavoidable implication: "Supermarkets will have to sell imported cuts at one price and labelled British cuts at a higher price." This reasoning has been put forward by Scottish processors for months, but it is now being heard from slaughterers in England and Wales. Cattle prices have recently been rising after languishing far below market values in Scotland during the worst of the FMD crisis. Despite some pre-Christmas improvement in young bull and cow beef markets on the Continent, latest indications are in line with earlier predictions of a relatively soft market next year for the EU overall while cattle supplies in Britain will be tight. {{MEAT }}

Topics