Ads boost for Scotch beef

The campaign aims to boost sales of Scotch beef

Scotland's meat industry is funding a £500,000 advertising campaign to boost consumer confidence following the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Quality Meat Scotland, the body which promotes beef, lamb and pork, says the campaign is needed as sales have continued to fall despite the excellent reputation of Scottish meat.

The advertising drive will initially focus on "Specially Selected Scotch Beef" before being rolled out across the UK to include lamb and pork.

The Scottish Consumer Council criticised the move, saying that another labelling system would confuse the public.

One problem that worries us is labelling and labelling that's misleading

Donna Heaney, Scottish Cosumer Council

Independent research carried out by polling company Mori showed that 83% of respondents trusted beef from Scotland and rated it higher than meat from any other country.

But despite this high approval rating, sales have been in constant decline throughout Britain for several years.

Alistair Donaldson, technical director of Quality Meat Scotland, said something needed to be done to reassure the public.

He said: "There has been a series of food scares and disease issues, obviously the most recent, foot-and-mouth.

"With Scotch beef in particular it's got a long-standing reputation as to its quality.

Clearer labelling

"What we're trying to do is build on that quality by underpinning it with complete assurance from the farm right through the whole meat supply chain to the consumer."

But the Scottish Consumer Council's food policy officer Donna Heaney said that safety issues were not the only concern and called for clearer labelling on food products.

She said: "Some consumers will be very influenced by price but other consumers will be influenced by a range of other factors.

Sales were hit by the foot-and-mouth outbreak

"That might include animal welfare. It just depends on the individual consumer.

"I think the industry has actually done quite a lot in the last few years since the outbreak of BSE and I think they have to keep going.

"One problem that worries us is labelling and labelling that's misleading.

"Logo schemes, there are a number of them around, and consumers must have the information about what they actually mean so they can compare them and to make a discerning choice."

Food writer Catherine Brown said that British people were gradually spending more on food and said there was a good case that this indicated they do not equate cheap produce with quality.