As Tesco pledges to stock more UK meat following the scandal, Andrew Webb offers some suggestions to our independent butchers on how to keep their new customers.
As we enter what we all hope is the final furlong of the horse meat scandal, one thing is clear: it seems to be in an awful lot of 'beef' products. It has turned up in supermarkets, fast food restaurants, pubs, hospitals, schools, and even prisons. It’s in burgers, lasagnes, spag bog, cottage pies and ‘beef skewers’.
Major brands like Tesco, Findus and Birds Eye have all been damaged. Even the Ikea meatball, that spherical symbol of Nordic purity, has been sullied with equine flesh. Meanwhile the blame is being spread around equally, too. It’s the fault of the supermarkets/the EU/foreigners/the Government/the Food Standards Agency/us, the shopping public (delete as applicable). And surely we’re in the End of Days when McDonald’s is held aloft as the good guy?
Tesco’s apology
Other retailers have blood on their hands, but Tesco’s been singled out as the ring leader. However, according to Questor, the greatest ire is reserved for food suppliers and manufacturers. This I feel is wrong – they are driven solely by what the retailers demand. The fear of being delisted gives many food producers sleepless nights.
Tesco has come out fighting; they know that they are inches away from a BP Gulf of Mexico level of toxic publicity. They don’t fear the loss of customers so much as massive fines, or even worse, legislation of the type being proposed to break up the banks. Because let’s be clear, what has happened here is a pollution of the food chain.
Facing the farmers
On 27th February, Tesco CEO Phillip Clarke addressed the National Farmers Union (NFU), offering this humble pie statement: “The past six weeks have been a wake-up call for the whole industry. Over many years, the way retailers source food has been allowed to become too complex.” Seemingly oblivious to his own company’s massive role in this, he added: “We feel the need to bring the food closer to home. We think it's right to bring more of it back to the UK, so long as we can get the demand from the UK."
Is it a cunning caveat that lets them put out British meat for a short time, next to cheaper meat from elsewhere, and then if the majority of consumers pick the latter, say there’s no demand for the British stuff? Time will tell. In the meantime the NFU has promised to hold Tesco to account; let's hope they do.
We're all going back to the butchers
Meanwhile, sales of ready meals are down by 13%, frozen burger sales are down by 43%, and there’s been a huge rise in people visiting traditional butchers, some for the first time ever. Every cub reporter in local news has headed down to the last remaining butcher in town for a soundbite.
A quick internet search reveals the following headlines: Workington, Cumbria, 25% increase in sales; Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, 20% increase; Henley-on-Thames, 20% increase; Wembury, near Plymouth, sales up by a third; and in Louth, Lincolnshire, increases of 10%. However, while many butchers are enjoying the schadenfreude, they’ve still got their work cut out to keep the public’s attention, trust and repeat custom.
Meet the meat
Firstly they should be proud to reveal their food chains, and tell us where exactly they’re getting their meat from. The best butchers have a food chain with three small links (farmer —> abattoir —> shop), and know all the other parties personally.
Opening hours
It’s not the 1950s anymore, but you wouldn’t know it by the hours some butchers keep – at 5pm the shutters come down. It’s even worse at the weekend, with half-day closing on Saturday and all day closure on Sunday. When, dear readers, do we have the most time to cook? The weekend! That’s when.
If I ran a butchers, I wouldn’t open Monday or Tuesday morning. I’d have a lad and a van outside the local railway station from 6pm most evenings to catch hungry commuters with stuffed chicken breasts, chops, sausages and steaks all ready to cook. That might stop them going to M&S Simply Food before getting on the train.
Home delivery
While bringing back Granville from Open All Hours might be a bit tricky, starting a service like Hubbub isn’t. Online grocery sales 'will double within five years’ and local shops need to be a part of that growth. Even the Victorians had home delivery sorted. You cannot survive selling a few bits of stewing steak to pensioners and sausages to stay-at-home mums.
The scandal has affected the meat and ready meal trade, but other sectors should make capital from it too. Fishmongers, cheesemongers, vintners, grocers and bakers: they should all be telling us what they do and how well they do it.
Has the horse meat crisis changed your shopping habits? Are you angry about food manufacturers or supermarkets? And have you visited your local butcher recently? Tell us in the Comments below.
Visit www.nationalbutchersweek.co.uk for more information.
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