Morrisons reports surge in fresh meat sales
Morrisons has reported a surge in sales of its fresh meat products since the horse meat scandal took hold.
The supermarket said that sales had risen 18% at its fresh meat counters with sales of fresh beef burgers increasing by 50% and sales of beef mince up by 21%. Sales of pork have also increased rising by 124% while lamb sales have gone up 15%.
Morrisons added that an “unprecedented” number of customers had approached its in-store butchers asking for advice and information on buying meat since the onset of the crisis.
The supermarket said it had invested heavily in extending its fresh meat counters in the last year and now has around 1,700 butchers serving 500 in-store butchers’ counters which only sell 100% British meat.
Morrisons cheif executive Dalton Philips said: “There’s never been a better time for consumers to buy fresh meat from sources they know they can trust. Because we work direct with farms, (even owning our very own), our counters and expert staff can confidently offer the most reliable meat to customers.
“Shoppers who are concerned by the recent crisis should buy fresh meat supplies from a trained butcher. We encourage all customers to talk to the butcher about where their animals are sourced from. Buying from reputable, skilled butchers should give shoppers reassurance and greater confidence in meat products.”
The rise in sales reflects those from assured product across the country according to industry body EBLEX, the organisation for beef and lamb levy payers in England.
Mike Whittemore, head of trade marketing for EBLEX, said: “Consumers are increasingly looking for assurance marks such as Red Tractor and the Quality Standard Mark (QSM) hen buying beef products. In that respect demand for assured, quality beef clearly remains robust.
“Provenance of products is important and moving forwards independent auditing, which is already a key requirement of both the Red Tractor and Quality Standard Mark (QSM) assurance schemes, will play a key role in ensuring that consumers have confidence in what they are buying.”
