Supermarkets Respond to Committee Concerns on Polish Beef Imports

Response from Sainsburys

27th April 2020

Declan McAleer MLA
Chairperson, Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Northern Ireland Assembly
Room 244, Parliament Buildings Ballymiscaw
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX
committee.agriculture@niassembly.gov.uk

Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd.
33 Holborn
London
EC1N 2HT

Dear Declan McAleer MLA,

Thank you for your recent letter to Mike Coupe in relation to Polish beef. We have a long history of supporting Northern Irish suppliers and farmers and we remain committed to sourcing Northern Irish and British beef. The statement you reference from one of our beef suppliers, ABP is correct. As the severity of the Coronavirus outbreak and the associated panic buying became apparent, we experienced exceptionally high demand for certain cuts of meat so we temporarily introduced additional lines for our customers to choose from. Before we took this decision, we had already lifted our age restrictions so we could take older NI cattle and we changed some of our product specifications allowing greater flexibility to maximise the number of NI cattle we could take.

The demand for mince in particular exceeded our UK suppliers’ capacity to meet demand in balance. Our responsibility to ensure our customers had access to essential food items required us to make this derogation to our normal 100% Northern Irish, British and Irish sourcing policy for beef.

Since the implementation of the government’s lockdown on people movement, we have seen a reduction from the initial peak of demand. This has enabled us to go back to offering our usual range, while ensuring our commitment to meeting demand and helping to feed the nation. Our commitment to sourcing Northern Irish beef and lamb remains, the challenge we experienced was that demand for mince in particular was out of balance from that for the rest of the carcass, which is normally balanced through food service channels.

As I am sure you are aware, the price the farmer receives for their cattle is determined by the value the processor can achieve for the whole carcass. With the collapse in the food service market the ability for the processor to balance the carcass has become extremely difficult and the end value that can be obtained for that meat much reduced. We have worked closely with our beef suppliers to increase the volume of beef that we are taking that would normally go into food service. However, there is a limit on our ability to sell premium cuts that are traditionally food service cuts, and it also results in shifting customer demand away from other protein areas such as lamb and pork and therefore creating new issues in those supply chains.

We are aware of the symbiotic relationship with our suppliers and farmers and we have some of the longest on going relationships in Northern Irish and British agricultural supply chains. Our longest supply relationship started at the end of the 19th Century and we have a heritage of supporting our farmers and food producers that we are rightly proud of and we look to continue that for generations to come. Everyone is working incredibly hard across the entire food system to ensure we can continue to offer customers the products they would like and need, but the challenges to the system have been immense, and continue to be so, as new channels emerge and as we try to prioritise the vulnerable. However, these demands will not stop us doing what we believe to be the right thing based on the facts and information that we have. We are committed to, and will continue to, do our very best for all members of our value chains from farmers to customers, as we have always done.

Kind regards

Judith Batchelar OBE
Director of Sainsbury’s Brand