Supermarkets Respond to Committee Concerns on Polish Beef Imports

Response from Tesco

Dear Mr McAleer

Thank you for your letter regarding Tesco’s beef sourcing policy.

Covid-19 is bringing huge changes to the way the whole country shops, lives and works and as a result, we are working tirelessly with our suppliers to ensure the food supply chain continues to run as smoothly as possible.

As we continue to work through our response to the Covid-19 outbreak we are taking measures which hopefully address the concerns you have raised.

We saw a significant spike in demand for specific cuts of meat, primarily for lean mince, over a very short period at the beginning of the outbreak. This spike in demand was challenging to manage, however we continued to source only from our existing suppliers in the UK and Ireland. 

We have been and continue to promote steaks, as well as roasting joints over the Easter period, to ensure we try and support our suppliers to manage carcass balance.

The temporary closure of the food service sector is having an impact on carcass balance and the value of the carcass. By promoting steaks, we are trying to support this as best we can.

We have close partnerships with all of our NI meat suppliers and will continue to do so – we have no plans to change any of our existing partnerships nor change our stance on committing to 100% locally sourced beef for our NI customers. We are working closely with all of our meat suppliers on a daily and weekly basis, ensuring we navigate the current situation carefully and sustainably for everyone.  

I hope that by addressing the points you have raised, we can give you the confidence that we are making changes where required, and by working closely with our farmers, producers and suppliers, we can continue to feed the nation in this time of uncertainty.

Best wishes.