In an effort to secure Irish beef and lamb exports to Britain, a senior buyer from the Tesco group will today lead a delegation from the National Farmers' Union in Britain to Irish meat plants. Mr Steve Murrells, who is responsible for sourcing beef and lamb for Tesco for the UK market, said the visit aims to demonstrate the quality standards applied in the production of Irish meat exports in response to concerns expressed by the farmers' union.
The NFU delegation is being led by deputy president, Mr Ben Gill, and includes farmers' representatives from England, Scotland and Wales. The farmers have suggested that Irish beef exporters are not subject to the same stringent conditions of production as their competitors in Britain. Tesco has subsequently issued an open invitation to the union to visit Irish plants to assess quality standards. Ahead of the visit, Mr Murrells confirmed the supermarket group's continued support for Irish meat supplies.
"Tesco is very proud of its Irish suppliers who operate to the highest standards of production and quality and we will continue to support them. I am confident that at the end of this visit the NFU will recognise that Irish meat plants do operate to the highest quality standards and are competing on equal terms with suppliers to Tesco in the UK," he said.
