Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) – the public body behind the Scotch Beef brand – will match the £297,000 it received from the Scottish government. The grant will be used to establish two trade development advisers for France and the Belgium/Luxembourg region and export market managers for Germany and Scandinavia.
Scottish rural affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead said: “We will not rest on our laurels. That’s why we are providing funding to QMS to support growth in established markets, as well as seeking to increase exports in other EU countries.”
Red meat exports
Scotch Beef has performed well at a challenging time, Lochhead said. Continued growth of sales in Europe is essential for Scottish beef producers as the continent already accounts for 90% of Scotland’s red meat exports, he added.
QMS chairman, Jim McLaren, said: "In these times of economic uncertainty, it's very encouraging to see targeted investment by government in areas that have already proven they can deliver strong economic growth for Scotland.”
The funding, which will be delivered over three years, will help expand the original export strategy for Scotch Beef that focused on France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
This strategy was devised following health clearance for British beef after the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak, a spokesman for QMS told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
Germany and Scandinavia were identified as the key regions for expansion “because they are prosperous markets looking for premium meat products”, he said.
The grant will also be used to forge new retail contacts and persuade restaurants to use more Scotch beef, he added.
A spokesman for the Scottish government told FoodManufacture.co.uk that QMS’s grant application was accepted because of its commitment to grow exports. “There is a need to not rely on markets where we’re already active. That’s why there is the interest in Scandinavia, a need to diversify the markets,” he said.
Biggest selling brand
Earlier this week QMS announced that Scotch Beef was Great Britain’s biggest selling Scottish food and drink brand following research by data monitor, Kantar Worldpanel.
Scotch beef achieved sales of £247M in the year between May 2011 and 2010.
QMS attributed the strength of the brand to the efficiency and performance of the whole red-meat chain.
The offal and off-cuts sector performed strongly – recording a profit of £13M in May 2011 compared with a net loss previously. The QMS spokesman attributed the result to growth in export markets and improved slaughterhouse efficiency.