As Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) prepares to go
to Germany for Anuga – the world’s leading food and beverage trade fair – a new
report reveals Scottish exports of red meat and offal rocketed to a new record
high of over £93 million in the year from August 2022 to July 2023.
The figures are up 16 per cent on QMS’s
survey statistics from the same period last year, pushing 14 per cent ahead of
their pre-Covid peak in 2018/19.
“These results buck any negative trends that
could have crept in because of the additional cost and complexity involved in
accessing the EU market following Brexit,” said Iain Macdonald, Market
Intelligence Manager at QMS, who noted Scottish exporters’ long-established
relationships with European importers had a large part to play in the successful
set of figures.
However, some of the growth did reflect
higher export prices, while it was also a strong year for trade in
manufacturing grade beef.
“Thanks to our long-running relationships
with importers built on trust in high-quality products, export sales remain
heavily dominated by trade with customers in EU countries,” said Iain.
“Those relationships are built and
strengthened by our presence at events like Anuga, where we’ll be providing
visitors with a comprehensive understanding of what sets Scottish red meat
apart – Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), quality assurance, provenance,
sustainability, and animal welfare, for example.”
The report shows that almost 95 per cent of
overall export revenues were generated in EU markets, climbing to 98 per cent
for Scotch Lamb.
While QMS says tight supply has made it hard
to grow export sales to new customers, the results did show some emergence of
new markets in Africa and Asia and 11 non-EU countries were exported to, up
from seven in the previous year.
Main export destinations for Scotch Beef
remain France, Italy and The Netherlands, collectively accounting for nearly 75
per cent of the total, with Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Hong Kong also
proving important.
The Irish Republic is the primary destination
for exported non-Scotch Beef and, when combined with shipments to The
Netherlands and France, they accounted for close to 90 per cent of this
trade. Switzerland remains an important outlet for high-value cuts of beef
and lamb.
“The exports of Scotch Beef to Belgium,
France, Germany and Scandinavia trade at well-above average prices,” said Iain,
adding some small volume markets are showing trade in high-value cuts of Scotch
beef averaging well above £20/kg.
“This indicates the opportunity that exists
for sales of premium cuts of Scotch Beef to buyers seeking out the highest
quality beef in a competitive global market.”
Although EU demand for lamb remained firm in
the year to July 2023, Iain warned export sales are likely to have been limited
by reduced abattoir throughput in Scotland.
However, including trade in offal, lamb
export revenues are still estimated to have risen towards £21m. Lamb exports
are also believed to have accounted for an increased 17 per cent share of
abattoir turnover during the period, up from 15 per cent in the previous year.
By comparison, beef sales are estimated to have risen to around 9.5 per cent of
turnover for abattoirs from 8 per cent a year earlier. France remains the most
important overseas market for Scotch Lamb, with Belgium and Italy continuing as
important destinations.
Sales of offal to overseas customers continue
to make an important contribution to carcase balance for Scotland’s red meat
processors. Overall offal sales were estimated to have risen beyond £9m with
close to 80 per cent of this being from beef offal. France leads the list of
important outlets for offal, with other significant demands coming from the
Irish Republic, Poland and Germany. Hong Kong, Japan and Africa are the main
outlets outside the EU.