AN annual turnover of more than #5m is in prospect next year for the
Certified Aberdeen-Angus beef cattle marketing scheme. Progress would be
even faster if sufficient supplies of Aberdeen-Angus cross cattle were
available, said John Jamieson, of Nether Baulk, Stonehaven, when he
addressed the annual general meeting of the producer marketing group,
Aberdeen-Angus Producers (Scotland) Ltd.
''We see potential for substantial growth in the years ahead, but it
does depend on commercial beef breeders going back to using
Aberdeen-Angus sired cattle,'' said Mr Jamieson.
''We have a number of enquiries from sizeable outlets for
Aberdeen-Angus which we are unable to fulfill because we are not in a
position to guarantee continuity of supply. This represents a tremendous
marketing opportunity for Scottish beef producers.''
The producer group has been granted sole procurement rights for
Scotland for cattle sold through licensed wholesalers under the
society's Certified Aberdeen-Angus beef scheme.
''This will enable us to maintain tight control, and ensure the
authenticity of beef sold as Certified Aberdeen-Angus,'' said Mr
Jamieson. The premium of 12p to 16p a kg paid for cattle qualifying for
the Certified Aberdeen-Angus scheme made the production of
Aberdeen-Angus cattle a most attractive financial proposition for
commerical beef producers, he added.
Mr Jim Ironside, managing director of the producer group, said that
they were set to market 7000 cattle worth more than #5m in 1994-95.
A total of 4735 cattle, worth more than #3m, had been marketed in the
year to August 31, compared with 2000 the previous year. The group's
levy income had increased from #13,000 to #51,479 -- and a profit of
#6198 had been achieved.
Almost 200 new members had joined the group during the year, and
membership now stood at 372. A development officer had been appointed --
Miss Angela McGregor, daughter of a Fife Aberdeen-Angus breeder William
McGregor.
The Waitrose supermarket chain continue to be the group's largest
customer, and four new wholesalers joined during the year. Certified
Aberdeen-Angus beef is now available in a considerable number of retail
shops, as well as high class restaurants and hotels throughout the UK
and also in Italy, France and Belgium.
The latest customer is the Hilton Hotel Group, which is serving
Aberdeen-Angus beef in its hotels in Malta and Sri Lanka.
Mr Ironside said that, in order to ensure the integrity of the scheme,
strict disciplines were being imposed on members. One had been expelled
for contravening the rules, and the board would deal firmly with any
member who abused the scheme.
A tagging system for cattle destined for the scheme was being
considered as a means of giving added strength to guarantees on the
authenticity of stock.
The group now has 25 members in Orkney, and 20 cattle a week are being
marketed through Orkney Meat Ltd in Kirkwall.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article