Blog: Seeing the value of international trade shows first-hand

Having joined AHDB six months ago, this was my first opportunity to attend and represent AHDB at a show like this, and what an event to pick – SIAL was celebrating its 60th anniversary, and the biggest number of UK red meat exporters for a decade (13) flew the flag for beef and lamb.

North Yorkshire beef and arable farmer Doug Dear and Yorkshire beef and sheep farmer Tom Carlisle also joined us at the show, seeing first-hand some of our international trade development work.

We were introduced to some of the AHDB equivalents in the USA and Uruguay, which was fascinating and gave us some insight into their respective production methods and what products/cuts are exported where.

There are a lot of different countries producing meat to a very high standard that are now competing on the world stage; we need to make sure that British beef and lamb maintains its reputation and can compete. We need to lead on the welfare, sustainability and quality, and demonstrate these traits to the global market.

I've spent a large part of my career working with farmers, processors and retailers, mostly with a focus on domestic production. What I didn’t realise was just how big and important exports are in ensuring value for all producers.

Having an opportunity like this, where British producers, processors and exporters can showcase British products, allows us to compete with the big red-meat-exporting nations. In terms of the return on investment, we’re looking at a 12:1 return on value, delivered back into levy payers’ enterprises.

UK red meat and dairy exports in 2023 were worth £1.7 billion, and SIAL also saw the further roll-out of AHDB’s Quality Meat from Britain branding in Europe to communicate consistent messaging around provenance and high production standards of red meat.

Tom Carlisle, Katrina Thompson and Seth Wareing