Red meat from Britain heading to Canada

Pork, beef and lamb from Britain will be arriving in Canada this month for a premier food innovation event in a bid to grow the country’s red meat exports.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) will be attending SIAL Toronto at the end of April – alongside Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC)

The three meat levy bodies will join more than 1,000 exhibitors from April 30 – May 2. The show is expected to attract around 18,000 visitors from 50 countries.

Throughout the three-day event, AHDB will showcase the high quality of UK meat in the International Hall – booth 719 – as well as meet with key influencers and potential buyers from the Canadian retail and food service sectors.

The aim is to highlight the exceptional taste of the meat, the country’s world-leading animal welfare standards and the sustainability of UK meat production.

The UK is one of the most sustainable places in the world to produce meat due to its climate and location. Very few inputs are needed, with grazing livestock that are able to turn the country’s plentiful supply of naturally produced grass into high quality meat.

AHDB Senior Export Manager Susana Morris said: “Canada is an attractive market for our red meat exports as Canadian consumers’ value quality meat and sustainable production. They also demand the very highest levels of health and welfare of their animals.

“We operate to some of the highest welfare standards in the world and are proud to be able to say our meat is hormone-free and no antibiotics are used for growth promotion. All of this, coupled with our premium taste, makes meat from Britain an attractive option for the discerning Canadian consumer.”

Exports of red meat to Canada have grown over recent years. Last year, shipments of pork, beef and lamb reached 454 tonnes, worth around £2 million – up from 271 tonnes in 2017, according to data from Statistics Canada.

Susana added: “It is incredibly important that we showcase all that the UK has to offer and SIAL Canada is a perfect platform for us to achieve that. We are looking forward to meeting with consumers and buyers and giving them the chance to sample the very best meat that we have to offer.”

Attendance at the show is financed by the £2 million fund of AHDB red meat levies ring-fenced for collaborative projects which is managed by the three meat levy bodies – AHDB, HCC and QMS.

The ring-fenced fund is an interim arrangement while a long-term solution is sought on the issue of levies being collected at point of slaughter in England, for animals which have been reared in Scotland or Wales.