Sainsbury is cutting Dungannon Meats out of its fresh beef supply chain and will in future source all of its fresh beef from Anglo Beef Processors.
The move, which follows a similar rationalisation exercise in Sainsbury’s milk supply chain, was part of a plan to develop strategic partnerships with a smaller number of key suppliers, said the company.
Dungannon immediately announced plans to close its Elmgrove Foods facility in Belfast with the loss of 30 jobs and review the rest of its operations.
Further redundancies could not be ruled out as a result of losing the contract, which was worth between £80-£90m at retail level, said managing director Jim Dobson. He added: “Dungannon supplies around 40% of Sainsbury’s beef products and its decision to move to a single supplier will impact both on our group operations and our suppliers.
“The loss of the Sainsbury business is a major blow.”
Dungannon’s contract to supply lamb to Sainsbury has not been affected.