Secret Shoppers find shelves stocked full with tasty Scotch Lamb PGI ahead of peak season and #LoveLambWeek

As Scotland’s lamb sales approach peak season, NFU Scotland has been delighted to find record volumes of tasty Scotch lamb available on Scottish supermarket shelves.

The latest shelfwatch study, undertaken by Union members and staff, found that Scotch Lamb was widely stocked across the majority of large supermarket chains.

The secret shoppers identified that all lamb being sold in the Lidl and Aldi stores surveyed was Scotch. Importantly, they also noticed a huge improvement in the amount of Scotch Lamb on sale in Tesco compared with previous shelfwatch results.

Overall, out of 850 packs of lamb inspected on supermarket shelves, the encouraging news for Scottish sheep farmers is that less than three percent was found to be imported, with home produced lamb – labelled as either Scotch or British - accounting for over 97 percent of sales.

This marks positive progress and a real success for the dialogue between NFU Scotland and retailers aimed at increasing the amount of Scotch Lamb on Scottish shelves.  Not only has the Union been encouraging all retailers to stock Scotch during peak season, but it is looking for those retailers who regularly import lamb at certain times of the year to extend the season for buying Scotch.

On the back of this good news for Scottish sheep farmers, next week will see the start of #LoveLambWeek which will incorporate a range of activities around the country to celebrate all that is wonderful about Scotch Lamb PGI.

That will include events where NFU Scotland members will talk with shoppers about the quality of tasty Scotch Lamb, with the aim of making lamb a more regular purchase amongst Scottish consumers.

Speaking after looking at the results NFU Scotland Livestock Committee Chairman Charlie Adam said: “Scottish shoppers want to buy tasty Scotch lamb and these results demonstrate the positive progress that is being made in making Scotch Lamb more widely available in Scottish supermarkets.

“Scotch Lamb continues to be exclusively available in Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl all year-round and that is welcome support for our farmers and crofters.

“However, the substantial increase in the amount of Scotch lamb available in the Tesco stores surveyed is noteworthy and reassuring as peak season approaches.

“While the majority of fresh lamb being sold in Asda and Waitrose in Scotland was produced in the UK, it was hard to find any which was labelled as Scotch.  We would like to see more done by these supermarket chains to ensure Scotch Lamb is available and clearly labelled in Scottish stores.

“Overall, to find that 97 percent of the lamb in Scottish supermarket stores is home-produced, with the vast majority labelled as Scotch, is a fantastic boost to the Scottish sheep sector at the busiest time of the year.  It provides a fantastic platform from which to encourage all retailers to build their commitment to Scotch.”

Notes to Editors

• NFU Scotland’s shelf watch surveyed a total of 14 supermarket stores, across Scotland, looking at fresh lamb offerings, apart from offal. Shelfwatch results demonstrated a 97% commitment to lamb produced in the UK. Overall 850 packs of fresh lamb were counted.
• Quality Meat Scotland’s ‘Wham Bam Lamb’ annual marketing campaign, which runs from August to October is underway and will promote Scotch Lamb in newspapers, outdoor posters, online and on the radio.  #LoveLambWeek will run from 1 September to 7 September 2016.
• The NFUS lamb shelfwatch survey took place on 22/23 August 2016.
• In summary, the shelf watch findings were:
  • Tesco (Corstorphine) - Total number of packs: 43 (Scotch: 28, British: 15)
  • Aldi (Gorgie Edinburgh) – Total number of packs: 38 (Scotch: 38)
  • Lidl (Dalry Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 53 (Scotch: 53).
  • The Co-op (Dalry Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 12 (Scotch: 4, British: 8).
  • Morrisons (Gyle Centre, Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 72 (Scotch: 54, British: 18).
  • Marks and Spencer’s (Gyle Centre, Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 95 (Scotch: 49, British: 46).
  • Sainsbury’s (Murrayfield Edinburgh) Total number of packs: 78 (Scotch: 48, British: 30).
  • Waitrose (Morningside Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 75 (British: 27, Welsh: 48).
  • Asda (Chesser Edinburgh) - Total number of packs: 76 (Scotch: 1, British: 69, New Zealand: 6)
  • Tesco (Linwood) – Total number of packs: 113 (Scotch: 105; British: 3; NZ: 5)
  • Asda (Linwood) – Total number of packs: 81 (British: 74; NZ: 7)
  • Tesco (Inverurie) Total number of packs: 114 (Scotch: 108; British: 6)
  • Aldi (Inverurie) – All packs Scotch
  • Lidl (Inverurie) – All packs Scotch

Ends

Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006