Prices prove a challenge

Roasting joints across all retail have dropped in volume over the last year by 6.8%, and in value by 5.2% according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel (formerly TNS Worldpanel), and butchery is no different. "Our joint trade is down, it's really not as good as it was," says Brindon Addy, who runs J Brindon Addy in Holmfirth, Yorkshire. "People just aren't buying joints at the moment."

Andy Lea, regional director with supplier Weddel Swift, agrees that beef has been challenging: "Trade has been difficult on beef at the moment more to do with price than anything else. Beef has been particularly expensive, more than normal, and people are looking at lower-cost cuts, such as pork and chicken, which are holding their own well."

To try and stimulate demand in the sector, Weddel Swift has been running a number of promotions on its English Rose branded beef, putting prize-winning scratch cards in boxes of beef, giving butchers the chance to win £1,000 and a number of promotional goodies.

One of the biggest pressures on beef in the independent sector has been the lack of imports into the market, says Lea. "Lack of imported product is keeping the UK price high there's virtually no South American beef in the market at the moment."

While the weakness of the pound is proving attractive to UK exporters, anyone looking to import into the UK is having second thoughts. "Anything offered to Europe is staying on the Continent, due to the exchange rate. They'll get better returns, and demand for things like Argentine beef is high in Germany," adds Lea.

The problem with the lack of imports means wholesalers like Weddel Swift struggle to offer promotional options to their butcher customers. "There's nothing out there that we can have a real go with and offer something for butchers to do a deal," says Lea. Even Irish product is thin on the ground due to the exchange rates, with brands, such as Weddel's Harmony Farm, suffering from lack of product.

namibian sourcing

However, while South American and Irish product is proving hard to find on the UK market, it has opened the door for some less traditional sources. Lea says they are seeing strong volumes starting to come through from Namibia. "We've seen a good volume from there and, bucking the traditional trend, we've also seen some Polish beef coming into the market. Polish beef is not the best quality in the world, but it's at a price and it does the job." He says he is hoping for a turnaround on the import front later in the year, with more product getting into the UK from March onwards.

But it is not all bad news on beef; while joints may be suffering from the preference for cheaper proteins, other cuts are faring better. Frying and grilling is flying, according to recent Kantar Worldpanel data, and the recent cold snap up and down the country has brought huge benefits to stewing cuts. Mince has also benefited from the recession, with volumes through the roof, although those figures have now levelled out and industry watchers suggest a saturation point has been reached. "There's only so much mince people can eat," says Richard Cullen, from the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board.

Malcolm Pyne, who runs P&B Pyne in North Petherton, Somerset, says his steak sales have held up well: "Beef is starting to look very reasonable again. It's still the backbone of our business. And we're selling plenty of steak meat.

"In the last year, the economic difficulties have helped trade on the forequarter front. It's still the hardest quarter to sell I always say, any fool can sell steak, you've got to sell the rest of it to make money. We don't have to think about selling the back end."

Brindon agrees that the market has been shaped by customers looking to cut down their costs. "We have one or two customers looking for cheaper cuts short ribs for example, as I think Jamie Oliver must have done something on it recently, so it's proving popular. Forequarter stuff is selling well and people are still looking to buy local."

He says the demand for prime cuts has fallen away. "We're certainly not buying in extra sirloins at the moment. We used to buy sides of beef and then buy extra sirloins in, but the demand isn't there. However, we're still buying in extra ribeyes; they are still selling well."

The wholesalers are also noticing the change. Lea says: "Forequarter meat is a lot more expensive than it has been for a long time. Money is switching from steaks to forequarter, and the pressure on it is quite intense. Fortunately though, general demand is down, so that's dampening things a little."

Sector body Eblex is responding to the changing market and, for some time now, has been working on developing quality cuts from cheaper meat. Dick van Leeuwen, Eblex's butchery expert, says he worked with leading chef Pierre Koffman to develop a range of new steaks taken from under utilised sections of the carcase.

"When we launched it, people liked it, but didn't massively jump on the bandwagon. Then the recession came along and people were screaming for alternatives to fillet and sirloin."

He says one cut that has really taken off is the flat-iron steak. "It has worked really well; it's cut from the feather blade and, in the past, has been mainly sold as cheap braising steak or diced up. But by using seam butchery, you can take out all the gristle and fat and you're left with a really great steak."

The development has certainly proved a hit, says van Leeuwens. "You're not always able to measure how successful these things are, but we've done a bit of research and we've seen the price of flat-iron steaks shoot up, so it's really adding value to that cut."

According to Mike Whittemore, Eblex retail project manager, the average increase in wholesale costs for forequarter beef has been around 15%, while the price for the feather blade has increased by 30%. "That is proof that supply has outstripped demand and led to an inflated price increase for this primal," he adds.

As well as taking a look at some new cuts, Van Leeuwen says that, when it comes to beef, butchers should keep a close eye on the date. For example, in the run-up to Christmas, the price for roasting joints shoots up, leaving a glut of rump on the wholesale market. "This Christmas, we were promoting rump roasts to butchers. They could pick them up much cheaper than topside. We put a flyer out, suggesting butchers could sell it to their customers as a premium roast. Lots of butchers picked up on that and the price levelled out. We'll be pushing rump roasts again this Christmas, and we'll also be producing posters to promote them."

He says Eblex has produced a special calendar, highlighting the times of year when certain cuts are in demand, to help butchers hunt for a good deal. Van Leeuwen also urges them to keep a close eye on their supermarket competitors. "If Tesco is doing topside on special offer, butchers, if they're wise, can tap into the market for the left-overs and really promote them. That could work really well."

That promotion is key, says Lea. "My advice to butchers would be to promote as much as they can, and try and generate as much interest as possible with customers." n

Keeping it Scottish

Members of the Scotch Beef Club have been reporting strong sales over the Christmas period, with roasting cuts bucking the general trend, according to Quality Meat Scotland's (QMS) head of marketing Laurent Vernet.

He says membership numbers of the club were stable and that sales of Scotch beef through it were on the increase.

However, the club is seeing changes, he says: "Week-day consumers are looking for a more economical spend either more economical cuts or smaller portion sizes. However, weekend buyers are still demanding premium cuts, despite seasonal variations." He adds that they are seeing increasing demand for ready meal meats: burgers, stir-fry and ready-seasoned steaks.

QMS will continue to promote Scotch beef on behalf of its members with a series of campaigns. It will also be taking a strong presence at the BBC Good Food Show in Glasgow later this year, and Vernet says there will be a highlight on butchers during the show.

As well as promotion, QMS is also looking to help butchers develop new outlets for Scotch beef. As such, they will be running a seminar and workshop for butchers and public procurement buyers to boost networking and increase the opportunities for retailers to supply schools, hospitals and prisons.

Case study

Malcolm Pyne is the second generation of his family to source beef from the same farm. His business, P&B Pyne in North Petherton, Somerset, keeps a herd of 120 head on a nearby farm, purely for sale through the shop. "We can even trace it right back to the feed as well we always deal with the same feed mill. We cover it from start to finish, and not because it's something customers want or ask for, but simply because it's just something we've always done. It's how business used to be done."

Despite bringing his beef in off the hoof, literally, Malcolm does have to top up, but he says he always aims for top quality on his boxed beef.

"We don't manage to fill all demand from the farm, so I buy in some Kingdom Beef, which carries the Eblex Quality Standard mark, from Towers Thompson. It works for us. I know it's around £2/kg more expensive than some of the other stuff out there, and I do get laughed at by some suppliers for buying it, but you get what you pay for and it's good stuff."

He feels the market for beef has now started to stabilise. "We were looking at the upward trend on beef prices, which was unnerving, but the market appears to have steadied a bit. We all know where we stand now."

However, he does have concerns over the return of over-30-month (OTM) beef. "I don't like the return of OTM into the food chain. It has taken a long time to regain consumer confidence after BSE, and it's back now better than it was.

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with OTM beef, but it will only take one mad professor to say something and I just feel we're leaving ourselves wide open to it. For a milking animal, coming to the end of its working life, fine, feed it to my dog, but not to my kids. I just question sometimes if we're being a little short-sighted on this one."

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